The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 800: The Second American Civil War? I’m so looking forward to it!

March of the fifteenth year of Tianli, Prime Minister's Office in Tianjing.

Luo Yaoguo stood in front of the sand table in the war room, his eyes fixed on the map of Myanmar. The sand table was filled with small red flags, representing the Burmese army led by King Mindon, which was advancing from south to north, while the territories of the chieftains of the Mubanghan clan and the Mengwenduan clan had been captured.

"Teacher, this is the emergency document from the Kokang Yang family." Zhu Ba held up a yellowed document with the official seal of "Hereditary Kokang County Magistrate" on it. "Yang Guohua said that King Mindon took back Pegu from the British and his strength increased greatly. He also hired thousands of Japanese warriors to help. He has already conquered Mubang and Mengwen and is now approaching Kokang. He has now assembled all the men in the county, training day and night, ready to lead the king and flatten Myanmar at any time!"

Luo Yaoguo took the document, glanced at it, and raised his lips slightly: "Kokang County is still a part of our Celestial Empire! This Yang Guohua is also a loyal man!"

Zhu Ba was confused by his words: "Teacher, Kokang has always been the land of the Celestial Empire!"

"Is it only courageous?" Luo Yaoguo withdrew his thoughts from the distant "sky" and asked another question in passing.

Chen Yucheng, who had just returned from the United States and joined the General Staff as the Operations Director, stood aside with a copy of the "Myanmar Product Report" in his hand. He said in a deep voice: "Prime Minister, Myanmar's annual rice production is estimated to be around 3.4 million tons, and exports are as high as one million tons. In addition, there are large tracts of teak forests in the country, which are a cash cow for the British. If we can take over Myanmar, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can also become an Indian Ocean country!"

Although Myanmar is an internationally renowned poor country in the 21st century, it was very rich when it was colonized by Britain. The data reported by Chen Yucheng now is not the highest peak. In the 1930s, Myanmar's rice planting area was as high as more than 1200 acres, equivalent to more than 7000 million Chinese acres. Although the per-acre yield was not high, the annual rice production in Myanmar was only about 700 million tons, but the export reached about 350 million tons. The per-acre yield was so low, which should be related to the fact that the Burmese people were not very good at farming. If it were replaced by the Chinese, Myanmar's rice production could easily reach more than 1000 million tons. If there were more fertilizers and improved varieties, the yield would be even higher!

Such a piece of fat meat, of course, cannot be given to the British, nor can it be taken advantage of by the Konbaung Dynasty.
Luo Yaoguo nodded, tapped the edge of the sand table with his fingers, and said to himself: "Myanmar is a piece of fat meat now! No wonder the British are trying so hard to eat it? The British can eat this fat meat, but we can't?"

Zhu Ba frowned: "But King Mindong has the support of the British. If we rashly send troops, will it be..."

"The British?" Luo Yaoguo sneered, "Aren't the British the ones who are causing trouble now? Otherwise, how could King Mindon take back Pegu? And where did he hire the Japanese samurai?"

Chen Yucheng's eyes flashed with a sharpness: "Prime Minister, do you want to send troops?"

Luo Yaoguo shook his head. "No hurry. Let King Mindon be proud for a while." He turned and walked towards the "Universe Map" on the wall, his finger swiping across the Irrawaddy Delta in southern Myanmar. "Zhu Ba, draft an order immediately to transfer Li Kezhong to Yunnan as the general commander. First, prepare the army for war and train the soldiers for a few months."

"Yes!" Zhu Ba responded immediately.

Luo Yaoguo continued, "Allow Kezhong to have ninety 90mm and 120mm caliber breech-loading guns, one hundred Gatling machine guns, and 5000 Tianli th-year breech-loading rifles (imitating Spencer). Tell him that after training the soldiers, he must fight hard until King Mindon and the Burmese dare not have any evil thoughts again!"

Zhu Ba's eyes flashed with excitement: "Don't worry, Prime Minister, Ke Zhong will definitely not let Min Dong Wang go!"

Luo Yaoguo smiled slightly and said, "Withdraw after the fight. Don't occupy Myanmar's land."

Zhu Ba was stunned: "Not occupying?"

"Yes, we won't." Luo Yaoguo said calmly, "We want to make the Burmese feel that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has no interest in Burma. When they relax their vigilance, we will... ask the Yunnan General Administration Office to open the border market and sell more obsolete flintlocks and muzzle-loading cannons to the Burmese."

Zhu Ba frowned when he heard this: "What is the Prime Minister going to do?"

"The British played this trick in India before." Luo Yaoguo sneered, "First they sold firearms to the local states to fight each other, and then sent troops to clean up the mess after both sides were defeated. Now we are just learning from the barbarians to control the barbarians."

Before he finished speaking, the door of the operations room was pushed open, and Cheng Lingnan walked in quickly, holding a telegram in his hand: "Prime Minister, urgent telegram from San Francisco!"

Luo Yaoguo took the telegram, glanced at it, and frowned slightly: "Zhao Si left alone?"

In the telegram, Han Yulin reported in detail Xianfeng's movements - he was marching towards Wyoming and New Mexico, intending to establish twelve "black, red and yellow" states before the end of the Civil War in order to expand the influence of the True Testament faction in the United States.

Luo Yaoguo was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "Zhao Si is really brave enough to think so."

Zhu Ba came over and said, "Prime Minister, Zhao Si is going to leave alone!"

Luo Yaoguo nodded: "I am walking alone, but it is not necessarily a bad thing." He turned to Cheng Lingnan and said, "Draft a telegram for me."

Cheng Lingnan immediately took out paper and pen.

Luo Yaoguo said slowly, "To Zhao Si, the Prince Consort of the Southern Yi: I am very pleased to hear that you want to follow the example of the Tanguts. However, Xia Lord Yuanhao still has the Hetao Horse Farm and the Hengshan elite soldiers. Do you have any Iron Harriers under your command now? I heard that Wyoming is poor and barren, New Mexico is full of yellow sand, and the land west of the Mississippi is sparsely populated. If Lincoln pacifies the south and leads his battle-hardened army westward, how can we resist him?"

He paused, then added, "If you are determined to do it, you should quickly build six major passes in the Rocky Mountains, dig deep trenches and build high fortifications, store grain and weapons. If the plains become difficult to support in the future, you should retreat to the dangerous places, and imitate the Western Xia's occupation of Hengshan, and use the dangerous mountains, long roads, and abundant food to trap the enemy. Hold out for a long time, and wait until the enemy's divisions are old and tired, then wait for an opportunity to move. Remember: the fortifications at the passes must be impregnable; the base in the mountains must store three years of food; it is better to have more weapons and gunpowder than less. If you need money, food, and weapons, you can ask for help from the True Covenant Archbishop of North America."

After Cheng Lingnan finished recording, he looked up and asked, "Prime Minister, should we send this telegram?"

Luo Yaoguo nodded: "Send it." Denver Governor's Palace.

Xianfeng stood in front of the map, his finger running across the border between Wyoming and New Mexico, his eyes gleaming with ambition.

"Did Han Yulin reply?" he asked without turning his head.

Sushun shook his head: "Not yet."

Xianfeng sneered: "He doesn't dare to make the decision. He must ask Luo Yaoguo for instructions. The news has been circulating for a long time. It won't be that fast. Let's wait a little longer."

Zeng Jia Linshu smoked his pipe and frowned, "Governor, will this anger Tianjing?"

Xianfeng turned around, his mouth full of sarcasm: "Anger? How do you think the three Chinese states on the west coast came about? Wasn't that all his doing?"

He walked to the window and looked at the Rocky Mountains in the distance: "The United States was built through fighting! Lincoln is now being held back by the South, and the Union Army has no time to look west. This is the best time for us to expand!"

Yuan Bao hesitated and said, "But what if Lincoln defeats the South and turns around to attack us..."

Xianfeng slammed the table and said, "Let's start a second American Civil War!"

Everyone was shocked.

Xianfeng said coldly: "Don't think that Luo Yaoguo is not very interested in our expansion east of the Rocky Mountains now, but once the Second American Civil War breaks out, he will definitely support us! Because the Pacific Ocean is so small, it can't accommodate three overlords!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Bell Watling came to Xianfeng with a telegram from San Francisco: "Governor, there's a call from San Francisco!"

Xianfeng quickly took the telegram handed over by Bell, unfolded it and saw that it was originally sent by Luo Yaoguo. The trans-Pacific hydroelectric line was laid at the end of last year. Now the communication between Tianjing and the west coast of the United States finally no longer needs to go through Singapore, Europe, the East Coast of the United States, and then the West Coast of the United States. After being passed through several hands, I don't know how many people have seen it!
"Sure enough!" Xianfeng laughed, "King Luo Wu asked us to repair the six major passes in the Rocky Mountains as soon as possible, and prepare a base in the mountains to prepare for a protracted war with Lincoln!" He glanced at Yuan Bao, "Yuan Bao, this matter is left to you. Take 10 taels of gold from the treasury of the Governor's Mansion, and I will order Amur Lama to assist you. If the money is not enough, go to Hong Daquan for it! We are guarding the six major passes for him!"

"Yes!" Yuan Bao immediately stood up, bowed, and accepted the task.

Bell Watling asked, "Governor, how do I call Prime Minister Luo back?"

Xianfeng thought about it and shook his head: "No need to go back. There are some things that can be done but cannot be said. If we do well, assistance will naturally come. If we don't do well, don't expect anyone to come to our aid!"

He looked back at his men and forced a smile: "But we have to do it. Otherwise, we won't be able to take Colorado! Lincoln may not cross the Rocky Mountains to take over the three Chinese states on the West Coast. But he will definitely come to take Colorado. If we don't want to run back to the West Coast in disgrace, we have no choice but to fight him!"

Prime Minister's Office in Tianjing.

Luo Yaoguo stood on the observation deck, looking at the steam freighters traveling on the Yangtze River in the distance, holding in his hand the telegram from Li Kezhong in Yunnan that Cheng Lingnan had just delivered to him.

"Did Zhao Si reply?" He asked casually after reading Li Kezhong's telegram.

Cheng Lingnan shook his head: "Not yet."

Luo Yaoguo chuckled: "It seems that he will not reply. He is determined to do something big."

Zhu Ba stood aside and whispered, "Prime Minister, if Zhao Si does this, will it be..."

"What will happen?" Luo Yaoguo said calmly, "If he wants to be the local emperor of the United States, then let him be."

Zhu Ba was stunned: "You won't stop me?"

Luo Yaoguo shook his head: "Why stop him? If he can really pull together twelve 'black, red and yellow' states in the United States, it will only benefit us."

He turned and looked at Zhu Ba: "Remember, Myanmar is the fat piece of meat, and the United States is our biggest potential competitor in the future!"

Zhu Ba nodded, not quite understanding.

Luo Yaoguo looked into the distance, his eyes full of anticipation: "A second American Civil War? Oh, it would be great if it really broke out!"

(End of this chapter)