Wild North America 1846

Daming Palace
On the occasion of the new year in 1875, the Daming Palace was decorated with lanterns and festoons, and flowers were in full bloom, creating a strong festive atmosphere.

At this time, it was the annual Lantern Festival, and all kinds of large palace lanterns with exquisite shapes and figures inspired by landscapes were hung in the palace.Each one comes from the hands of famous masters, with top-level illustrations and exquisite materials.

Emperor Li Cha accompanied the harem concubines and princes during the festival, and the grandchildren watched the lanterns and the scenery by the Taiye Lake, enjoying the deep royal family affection, and the joy of children and grandchildren around their knees.

There is no need to repeat the luxurious scenes of the imperial court.

Most of the diplomatic missions from various countries have left. Only the Emperor of Fusang and the Canadian Governor-General Palmerston and his wife stayed in the imperial capital Chang'an and spent the 1875 Lunar New Year together.

Fortunately, they will not be lonely either. The imperial capital Chang'an is full of dignitaries, and there are luxurious banquets one after another on the occasion of the New Year, and they will not stop until the first month of the lunar calendar.As a distinguished guest invited by the nobles of the empire, he couldn't be idle at all.

Needless to say, the governor of Canada, Lord Palmerston, and his wife, they will stay at least until after April, and basically stay in Chang'an, the imperial capital, or go to Chicago in summer.

In particular, Lord Palmerston and his wife were old and could not stand the cold in Canada's high latitudes. They did not spend a single day in Canada in the whole of last year.

Among them are the factors of participating in the Sao Paulo summit, as well as the personal wishes of the governor and his wife.

Three days after the Lantern Festival, Emperor Fuso Meiji asked to enter the palace for an audience, and was about to bid farewell and return home.

"Well, let's see. Emperor Meiji still knows how to do things. This time, the national gift sent 108 lifelike dolls, and also sent 108 Japanese girls. It's considered intentional." Emperor Li Cha is now in a state of mind The air is refreshing, the years do not seem to have left too many traces on him, and he still has the youthful and energetic appearance.

After thinking about it for a while, he ordered: "You don't need to meet alone, the time is set at the Grand Court Meeting in March of the New Year, and you can meet with Lord Palmerston and other envoys."

"My servant complies with the decree!" After receiving the decree, Director Zheng Yuan hesitated for a moment, but still carefully reminded him; "Your Majesty, the Fusang people sent 20 beauties and some gadgets to my mansion. The intention is..."

Emperor Li Cha understood it as soon as he heard it, and replied in a neutral tone; "Since they are willing to give it away, you can take it. What they asked for... It is inconvenient for me to interfere in Fusang's internal affairs, let them do it themselves."

Speaking of here
Emperor Li Cha turned his head to look at Liang Bojun and Lu Dawei, the deputy directors, and asked with a frown, "The Japanese are very active recently, so you two also accepted gifts from the Fusang people, right?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, I dare not hide it. The two of us did receive gifts from the Japanese. It was five girls and some special products. The ministers of the cabinet also had different salutes." Lu Dawei quickly stepped forward and answered first. up.

"My humble minister is ashamed!" Liang Bojun could only reply respectfully.

Emperor Li Cha shook his head uncertainly, did not express any objection, but only reminded; "Women are welcome, but they cannot be allowed to touch confidential matters. You must know that if you are not of my race, their hearts must be different."

"Qizou Your Majesty, I will keep this in mind, and I will not dare to disobey the oracle." The three directors and deputy directors of the secretariat replied with a salute.

The emperor had no burden to prostitute Japanese people for free, and neither did the cabinet ministers and the chief of the secretariat, because the monarchs and ministers of the Tang Empire didn't care about these Japanese people at all, they only regarded them as filial piety to the vassal state.

Emperor Meiji brought no less than 300 beauties during his pilgrimage to the Tang Empire, as well as a large number of Fusang specialties, such as smaller silk dolls, Japanese armor, handicrafts, etc. Extensive visits to the upper echelons of the empire really cost a lot of money.

It is a pity that the actual effect did not meet expectations. The imperial family did not respond to the main appeal of Emperor Meiji.

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

As an emerging colonial power in the world today, the Tang Empire has 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 dominance of the United States of America in the diplomatic, customs and economic fields.

The United States of America once tried to emulate France, issuing war bonds to the people to repay the remaining war reparations, and regaining the dominance in the customs and financial fields, but this effort was rejected by Congress.

It can be seen that
The Datang Empire has a significant influence in the United States of America that can subvert its policies, and has been using its own influence to place Chinese retired officers and soldiers in government departments to support the activities of pro-China political parties.

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

The so-called non-interference in the internal affairs of the country is perfunctory.

Emperor Li Cha knew it well;

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

Of course, the Tang Empire cannot encourage this kind of imperial worship, and using the old forces of the shogunate to contain the reformers has become a good balance.

The monarchs and ministers were chatting gossip, and suddenly the people below handed over a piece of latest news;
Just two days ago, Shinyuki Matsuda, Prime Minister of Fuso's second government, was assassinated in Tokyo.

Thanks to the connection of the trans-Pacific submarine cable, the news of major events happening around the world can be sent back to the imperial capital Chang'an in the first time through the relay transmission of long-distance telegraph offices along the route.

2-3 days in East Asia, 4-5 days in the Indian subcontinent, and much slower for island countries in the Western Pacific, such as Australia and Paradise Island, which take at least three weeks, and 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 relay the message back to the empire, the timeliness is much worse.

How could this be?
Emperor Li Cha's expression suddenly turned cold, and Director Zheng Yuan immediately stood up and saluted respectfully, "Qizou Your Majesty, I will immediately send people to investigate. Is there any other secret behind this?"

"Well, we will deal with it properly with the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These Japanese people are really stubborn. Go!"

"My minister obeys the order!" After Director Zheng Yuan left, the two deputy directors quickly bowed and left.

Emperor Li Cha was upset by this sudden news, and he came to the large hand-painted world map hanging in the imperial study with his hands behind his back, and soon his mind was immersed in it...

Throughout the Americas, the vast territory of the empire runs from north to south, and one of the red railway arteries is particularly eye-catching, which is the Pacific Railway.

The planned Pacific Ocean Railway starts from Vancouver in the north and ends in Tierra del Fuego in the south. The total length is expected to exceed 1.65 kilometers. After completion, it will be the longest railway line in the world.

The Great Pacific Railway is formed by the confluence of more than a dozen local railways. More than 10200 kilometers in the north have been completed. It extends from Panama to the south and enters 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 railway aorta, extending southwestward to Bogota, the capital of China Unicom.

The aorta of the Pacific Railway continues to go south, leading to Dali, an important town in the south, and passes through Quito, the capital of Zhongzhou Province (formerly Ecuador), and then goes south into Fuyuan Province (collectively called the northern regions ceded by Peru). This section of the railway line is in full swing. Full construction.

In the south, it entered the country of Peru.

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

Provisions of the Pacific Railway Company (Peru) contract;
Datang Empire provides funds, technology, equipment and part of the labor force, occupying 82% of the company's equity, and Peru provides land along the line and part of the labor force, occupying 18% of the company's equity.

The two parties share the operating income of the Pacific Railway Company (Peru section) according to the shareholding ratio, and provide all necessary support.

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

The Government of Peru should not intervene in the affairs of the territory of the Pacific Railway Company (Peru) except for necessary reasons...

This is a contract that seriously violates the sovereignty of the Peruvian government, but as a semi-colonial country, after the territory was dismembered, it paid huge war compensation, the army was disbanded, the customs was placed under trusteeship, and there were military bases of the Tang Empire everywhere in the country.

In this case, the Peruvian government has to sign if it does not sign, and it is completely up to them to decide on their own.

This is the dominance of the Tang Empire. The Pacific Railway passes through Peru to the south, and then connects with the central railway of the Andean Governor's Palace (note; the name of the local railway trunk line), and finally connects the main Atlantic Ocean under the Andean Governor's Palace through a railway branch line. Railway, heading south to Tierra del Fuego.

Except for about 2300 kilometers in the central part of this long railway line (mainly Zhongzhou Province, Fuyuan Province, Peru and territories ceded from Bolivia), the rest has roughly been completed.

The remaining part of the railway line was built at a very fast speed under the condition of large-scale investment by the empire, and the entire line could be completed in about 5 to 6 years, that is, the construction was completed before the end of 1880.

The reason why it takes so long is that the middle section of the railway line passes through the edge of the Amazon rainforest with complex terrain and abundant rain. Many bridges and tunnels need to be erected, which makes the construction difficult.

According to calculation;
The 2300 planned railways cover about 1/6 of the entire railway line, which needs to pass through bridges, tunnels, railway culverts, and cross countless rivers and mountains before it can be finally completed.

Emperor Li Cha's eyes stayed in Cuba in Central America for a while, and then moved to other places...

At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China
The long-term, medium-term and long-term goals he planned for the Tang Empire have been realized one by one, and now only Cuba, Puerto Rico and Luzon Islands under the rule of the Spanish colonists are left.

sooner or later

If the above-mentioned areas are to be included by the Tang Empire and complete the last piece of the empire's jigsaw puzzle in the Americas, then it will be perfect.

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

The Tang Empire has just acquired a large piece of land in the Americas, and about 400 million South American residents, including Colombia, still need to digest it. It is not suitable for large-scale colonial expansion in a short time.

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

Motivated by profit, many armed human-trafficking groups have become involved in this lucrative business, preying on young women from the Columbia region, resulting in a continuing decline in the region's population.

The military and police turned a blind eye to this, and when some local Indian men or native white men resisted, they would be immediately suppressed, beaten severely and then thrown into a hard labor camp.

It just so happens that the new colonial area of ​​Colombia is building bridges, paving roads, building railways, and mining mines. Labor is needed everywhere, and the labor camp is the best supplement.

After several years of such policies, it is estimated that the number of young women lost in the region will reach between 130 million and 140 million, and the entire society will lose the ability to reproduce.

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

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

Just like the current governor of the Andes, the demarcation work of the various regions under his jurisdiction has already begun, and the provincial boundaries, city boundaries, town boundaries, and land ownership rights and interests in various places will be finally determined.

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

After completing its historic mission, the Andean Governor's Palace will finally come to a perfect end and become a transitional institution during the colonial period.

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

Early 1875
The changes that took place in China in East Asia closely attracted the attention of Emperor Li Cha. Apart from the assassination and death of Shinyuki Matsuda, the Prime Minister of the second government of the Fusang Kingdom, there were several other incidents.

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

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

On the occasion of the Lunar New Year, the Ryukyu royal family has already sent good news, and the Tang royal family immediately bestowed great 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, adding a bond and a family relationship to each other, which is a typical royal political marriage.

This year, Amami Oshima officially broke away from the custody of the Ryukyu Kingdom and established a new Amami Kingdom. The residents of the island begged a prince of the empire to serve as king, and they got permission.

After some selection, the four princes born by the Queen's wife (Wang Manzhi), His Royal Highness Tang-Li Dian, Duke of Alaska, went to the Amami Kingdom and became the king.

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

His Royal Highness Tang Li Dian, the Duke of Alaska, spent almost all of his money to purchase various equipment and materials. Together with the large amount of materials rewarded by the royal family, he formed a mighty fleet of more than 30 ocean-going ships, accompanied by more than 2700 people.

The last major event was the proposal of "Haisai concurrently operating" put forward by the Minister of the Qing Dynasty Zuo Zongtang, which was finally approved by Emperor Guangxu, in the decree on March 3;
"Zuo Zongtang is required to coordinate the overall situation and state his own views", "If you withdraw from outside the customs, the barriers will be difficult to protect", "It is impossible to close the gate and guard yourself"

Encouraged by His Majesty's decree, Zuo Zongtang proposed in the "Report on the Situation of Recovering Coastal Defense and Suppressing Grain Transportation Outside the Pass" in early 1875: "Coastal defense in the east, fortification in the west, and both." , but to the west."

Zuo Zongshang proposed;
Military expenditures for the defense of the northwest frontier are already very tight, and there is no room to allocate to coastal defense.

If Xinjiang is not recovered, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Qing army will be restrained for a long time. Not only will it not be able to reduce military pay and help coastal defense, but it will be "withdrawing the barriers by myself, and I will retreat an inch and the invaders will advance."

Xinjiang is not a barren land, but it has the possibility of proper management and long-term persistence. If "suppression and appeasement are implemented simultaneously" and "food and transportation are combined", there is great potential for regaining Xinjiang.

Due to his power being held hostage, he strongly criticized Jing Lian, the imperial envoy who oversaw Xinjiang's military affairs at the time, and Yuan Baoheng, who assisted in the grain expedition to the west, saying that they "served in their positions but did not plan their own affairs." allowed.

Soon after
Zuo Zongtang was appointed as the imperial envoy, with full power to supervise the military affairs of Xinjiang, and Jin Shun was the governor of Urumqi, who helped to handle Xinjiang military affairs.

The news of the military situation from the mainland of China came immediately, which greatly inspired Emperor Li Cha, and he immediately made relevant deployments.

The first thing is to select some outstanding officers from the German army through secret channels, and send 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 batch of 2 smoothbore rifles, 1.2 Napoleon field guns, and 45 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 800 Tang yuan.

These munitions and military aid did not have the shadow of the Tang Empire from the beginning to the end, and they acted very carefully so as not to be overly interpreted by the outside world, which would be unsightly.

The third thing is that the Imperial Security Bureau has established a stable communication channel with the imperial envoy, and put forward a request to "exterminate the Yakube rebels and drive away the Russian and British forces", and stated that "all necessary assistance will be given, 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 international trend, especially Tsarist Russia.

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

For an outstanding commander, these precious intelligence aids are even more important than arms, avoiding misjudgment of the situation.

The current Qing court is like a blind man feeling an elephant. There are no ministers who are really proficient in Western affairs, and they have little understanding of the international situation and the European situation. It is inevitable that there will be no policy deviations.

With the blessing of these arms and intelligence, as a chess player who secretly lays out, Emperor Li Cha really wants to see what kind of answer Zuo Zongtang can hand over?
Is it hard to fight against the Tsarist Russian army on the battlefield, is it capable of regaining the homeland outside the Alashan Pass, or even go further?