Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 513: Germany's Expansion of Power in the Americas
On the morning of January 1890, 1, the United States expeditionary fleet sailed to Darien Gulf. Hundreds of ships of various types were majestically lined up on the sea, beginning a brief "friendly visit" to the Colombian coastal city of Eligandi.

That afternoon, the expeditionary fleet arrived at the northern coast of Colombia, and took advantage of the opportunity to show off its military strength.
William Eaton Chandler, the U.S. Minister to Colombia, made a special trip to the Presidential Palace to visit the President of Colombia and submitted a diplomatic note. The main contents of the diplomatic note are as follows:

1. Restore the agreement signed between the United States and Colombia in 1869 to return the right to build the Panama Canal to the United States. The two parties signed a lease contract to lease the Panama Canal and the land within 4 kilometers along the coast to the United States for a period of 100 years with an annual rent of US$60, which can be renewed after the expiration of the contract.

2. American goods entering Colombia through the canal are exempt from import tariffs.

3. The United States has the right to establish army and naval bases in the leased area of ​​the Isthmus of Panama. The military bases are under the responsibility of the United States Marine Corps. Colombia has the right to manage public security in the leased area and can dispatch no more than 1000 police officers to maintain daily public security in the canal zone. It shall not interfere with the US military presence and the operation and management of the canal.

4. American warships do not need to report to the Colombian government and can pass through the canal at any time. When war breaks out, the United States has the right to implement a closure policy against the belligerent countries and their allies, prohibiting warships and merchant ships of hostile countries from passing through the canal area.

Faced with the threat of the expeditionary fleet at its doorstep and the naked military blackmail of the American minister, the Colombian government was helpless and had to seek help from Western powers to ensure the independence and autonomy of the Panama Canal.

On January 1, the Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs invited the British Minister to Colombia Smith Thompson, the French Minister to Colombia Oriol, the German Minister to Colombia Joachim, and the Chinese Minister to Colombia Zhou Changling to hold a discussion on the construction of the Panama Canal.

On the way to the administrative building of the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the invitation of the German Minister Joachim, the Han Minister to Colombia Zhou Changling rode in the same carriage with the other party.

In 1882, after the Chinese Exclusion Act was enacted, Canada also enacted a similar law restricting the number of Chinese workers. The immigration base originally located on Tortuga Island in Haiti, which served the Chinese workers migrating to the United States, Canada, Cuba and other places, gradually lost its significance due to the rapid decrease in the number of Chinese workers. In addition, the southward expansion of American forces posed a military threat to the Tortuga Island immigration base. Therefore, after the Chinese workers in North America had basically completed their migration, in 1885, the British evacuated the last batch of Chinese workers and government officials stranded in Haiti, and then transferred the immigration base to the Germans as one of the trade bases for Germany's commercial exchanges with the Americas.

Influenced by the increasingly close trade relations between China and Germany, Germany's economic interests in the Americas further increased compared with the same period in history. At the beginning of 1890, the total import and export trade volume of Germany to China increased to 19 billion marks, and the scale of investment in China increased to nearly billion marks.

With the rapid development of Han's industry, economy, commerce, agriculture and other fields, German capital that invested heavily also earned considerable profits.

The investment received efficient returns, the total amount of available funds increased further, and the German government and capitalists, having tasted the sweetness brought by overseas investment, expanded their sights to other parts of the Americas.

From 1879, Germany began to increase its investment and expansion in the Americas.

In northern South America, German industrial and commercial capital entered Venezuela and Colombia on a large scale. By the beginning of 1890,
Germany's total import and export volume to Colombia reaches 249 ships per year, with a total cargo tonnage of 21 tons.

The total volume of imports and exports to Venezuela reached 671 ships, with a total cargo tonnage of 51 tons.

Germany's total investment in Venezuela is nearly 4 million marks, making it the third largest investor and creditor of Venezuela after the United Kingdom and the United States. At the same time, Germany also controls about one-seventh of Venezuela's trade share.

In southern South America, German capital entered Chile, Bolivia, Peru and other countries, competing with British and American capital, and successfully seized the construction and operation rights of three railway trunk lines and the mining rights of more than a dozen iron mines, copper mines, aluminum mines and other mineral resources from Britain and the United States.

In Central America, taking advantage of the collapse of the plantation economy, German capital successfully entered countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, taking over local bankrupt coffee, cocoa, rubber and other plantations, and then introduced efficient and scientific planting and management methods, turning the plantations from losses to profits and bringing some profits to German capital.

In the Caribbean region, German capital also developed rapidly, especially in Haiti, which served as a trade transit point for Germany to South America. In 1880, the total number of German merchants on the entire island of Haiti was less than 100. By the beginning of 1890, the number of merchants on the island had grown to 400, and the number of German expatriates and sailors had reached more than 700.

The Germans controlled 40% of Haiti's international trade and controlled two short-distance railways to Cape Hardan and Port-au-Prince, a railway to the interior, and two ports.

Moreover, compared with white British people of the same period, some Germans were more willing to intermarry with other groups and races. Local black officials and large landowners were proud to marry German women. For a time, "German daughters-in-law" became a trend. With this, the Germans also bypassed the restriction of the Haitian Constitution that "foreigners are not allowed to own land in Haiti" and acquired a large amount of land in Haiti.

Germany's expansion in the Americas naturally attracted the attention and vigilance of the United States. As a countermeasure, the United States signed exclusive trade agreements with Puerto Rico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and other Central American countries in an attempt to completely expel German capital.

The US expeditionary fleet "visited" Colombia and Venezuela with the same purpose.

"Your country has achieved a great victory in the Paraguayan battlefield. On behalf of His Majesty Frederick III, I would like to express my sincere congratulations to your country."

In the slowly moving carriage, German Minister Joachim spoke with a smile on his face.

"Thank you for your congratulations, His Majesty Frederick III. The Han Empire and the German Empire are close partners. Both economically and politically, the two countries have common interests."

"Yes, the friendship between the German Empire and the Han Empire is unbreakable. In order to safeguard common interests, the Americans' reckless actions must be stopped."

German Minister Joachim said righteously: "Although the German Empire and France have had conflicts and conflicts of interest, they have common interests in the construction of the Panama Canal and the economic and trade issues of Colombia and Venezuela. Now, the Americans not only want to snatch the canal construction rights from the French, but also want to disrupt the normal economic trade between the German Empire, Britain, France and other European countries and the countries in the Americas. This is really too much." "The Americans have stretched their hands too far. They really think they are the masters of the Americas."

"The fate of countries in the Americas should be decided by the countries themselves, and economic and trade exchanges between countries should not be interfered with by other countries."

"The Han Empire has always attached great importance to its diplomatic relations with Colombia, Venezuela, Haiti and other countries. Unfortunately, in terms of the construction of the Panama Canal and interference in US trade policy, Colombia, Venezuela and other countries seem to have misunderstandings about the Empire and are unwilling for the Empire to participate deeply."

Han envoy Zhou Changling smiled bitterly.

"It is because of the slander and vilification by the United States that the countries in northern South America have misunderstandings about your country. I believe that after experiencing this incident, the countries will see the true face of the Americans, and the misunderstandings and prejudices against your country will disappear."

The German envoy tried to comfort them, but his words did not sound very confident. As everyone knew, the Han State was an outsider, and the territories under its name came from Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile and other countries. Even though it did not border the northern countries of South America, Colombia, Venezuela and other countries were still wary of the Han State, fearing that the further introduction of Han capital would bring potential threats to their own future.

The international image of the Han Dynasty in the Americas, especially in South America, is really difficult to whitewash. The German envoy was polite and then shifted the topic to the cooperation between the two countries.

"Your country's governance of the Congo colony in Africa has been very successful. The German Empire also wants to learn from your country and draw on your experience in governing African colonies."

"You are too polite. Your country started colonizing earlier than the Empire. It is the Empire that should learn from your country."

"No, no, no. The early colonial development was a spontaneous act of the church and private merchants. The official colonization activities of the German Empire actually came later than your country."

The German envoy waved his hand and explained, "Thanks to the mineral resource distribution data provided by your emperor, the Cameroon colony can provide a portion of colonial income to the empire every year. However, in colonies such as Namibia, Tanzania, and Papua in the South Pacific, the empire has been in a loss. Some people in the empire have already proposed to His Majesty Frederick III to cut investment in colonies and use the saved funds to invest in free world countries."

The German envoy did not say it explicitly, but Zhou Changling guessed that those who advocated cutting funding for the colonies were either German Chancellor Bismarck or a group of conservatives influenced by Bismarck.

As a late-developing industrial power, Germany had irreconcilable conflicts with old colonial powers such as Britain. Even if it continued to implement the diplomatic strategy formulated by Bismarck, war would be inevitable as capitalism continued to grow in Germany.

Therefore, the best solution to resolve the contradiction is to increase the development and control of colonies, transfer excess capital and population to colonies, and use colonies to feed back the local economy.

"The Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also exchanged experiences with your country on colonial governance issues. This is no secret. I would like to share with you some of the information I have learned."

Zhou Changling recalled some information related to the Congo colony and introduced: "The empire's governance of the black natives in the Congo colony was similar to that of the United Kingdom. It implemented indirect management of the natives by enfeoffment of tribal chiefs in various places, without destroying the local ruling structure, nor did it force the local natives to learn the language of the mother country and adapt to the mother country's culture and customs like the French.

In addition to the indirect management of the indigenous population, the empire relied more on the immigration bases established in the Congo colony and various strategic locations. Through the immigration bases, the Congo's resource-producing areas were directly governed. Most of the income that the Congo colony paid to the mainland each year was also generated by the direct management of the immigration bases. "

After Zhou Changling finished speaking, he glanced at the German minister and suggested: "Most African natives are still in the primitive society. It is inefficient and costly to spend energy and money to directly manage them. If your country wants to achieve a balance of payments in the colonies or even make a profit, it is recommended to send some of the surplus population to the colonies and distribute the ownerless land in the colonies to the native people who have migrated. Compared with the African natives, the native people who have migrated are easier to manage, have higher labor efficiency and can create higher economic value."

"However, Africa has a hot climate, and the native people who migrated from Europe are easily infected with various tropical diseases. The imperial government tried to migrate some unemployed workers from the mainland to settle in Tanzania, but the effect was not ideal."

"Tropical diseases are indeed a big problem. If necessary, your country can apply to the Empire for technical authorization of anti-dysentery drugs such as quinine and artemisinin."

“Is your country willing to lift the technical restrictions on quinine and artemisinin?”

The German ambassador's eyes lit up.

"For the sake of friendship between our two countries and to support your colonial cause, the Empire is willing to increase cooperation with your country in the field of medicine."

The quinine purification technology optimized by the Han Dynasty and penicillin obtained from the traditional Chinese medicine Artemisia absinthium are the main anti-dysentery drugs. With these two drugs that monopolized the market, the Han Dynasty's reclamation activities in the Congo colony were able to proceed smoothly, and the number of deaths of immigrants migrating to South America each year was also greatly reduced. The market was monopolized for nearly ten years. Compared with later generations, the quinine and artemisinin purification technologies with relatively simple purification methods and low technical barriers were facing the risk of being cracked, so the Han Dynasty had the idea of ​​taking the opportunity to license the technology out.

"Thank you for your kindness. If we can obtain the technical license for anti-dysentery drugs from your country, the production costs of cinchona frost and artemisinin will be greatly reduced, and ordinary citizens who migrate to African colonies will be able to better adapt to the local climate and resist the harm of diseases."

“I wish that the German Empire’s colonial undertakings will reach greater heights.”

Zhou Changling smiled slightly, and then the two of them walked into the Columbia Government Building together.
(End of this chapter)