Nanyang Storm 1864

London
After receiving the encrypted transatlantic telegram from the mainland of the Great Chu Empire, the delegation's telegraph operator held the "Doctrine of the Mean" in his hand, translated the secret code, and immediately submitted it to his superiors.

Prince Chu Zhengyuan was full of anticipation. After hastily reading the secret telegram, he, who was usually calm, couldn't help but jump up excitedly and waved his arms vigorously in the air.

Very good!
The emperor's oral instruction was like timely relief, which made the current stalemate clear up.

On this basis, the possibility of reaching a bilateral treaty of great historic significance has greatly increased. How could he not be happy?
Prince Chu-Zhengyuan was born in January 1868 and is now 32 years old. He is in the prime of his life and wants to accomplish something big.

Prince Chu Zhengyuan, who came from the royal family, was born with extremely high political sensitivity.

The opportunity before him is the preparation made by his father for him. This is a huge achievement, enough to firmly secure his position as the crown prince.

no way

There are many talented people among the royal family of the Great Chu Empire, but not all princes are convinced. There are many who complain, mock and express dissatisfaction in private.

It is believed that Prince Chu Zhengyuan came to power by relying on his father's extra favor and direct bloodline, and that he has no special ability and is just a mediocre person.

If a bilateral treaty is reached, all doubts will disappear.

"Summon Lord Pan and Lord Li to the palace immediately. Go quickly! I want to see them within half an hour."

"As ordered, Your Highness."

The personal guard officer immediately hurried away to convey His Royal Highness's order.

Chu Zheng Yuan held the telegram in his hand and walked around the extremely luxurious palace excitedly. He couldn't help but go up to the second floor and look at Whitehall Street in England not far away through the dome window.

I felt so excited and proud that I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The delegation stayed in a luxurious Gothic palace building on Belgrave Street in London, which was the property of the Great Chu Empire and was located on the side of Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park, only a few hundred meters away.

As early as seventeen years ago
When the emperor of the Great Chu Empire visited various European countries, he lived in this palace in London.

The palaces of the royal family of the Great Chu Empire and various real estate properties are spread across Europe and the governor's offices of overseas colonies. Royal children can stay in overseas palaces when they study, visit, or participate in foreign activities.

It's just that you live in a designated area and can't step into the core part.

When Prince Chu Zhengyuan lived here, there were 6 princes living here with him. Some of them were studying at Oxford or Cambridge University in the UK, some were responsible for royal liaison and industrial and commercial development, and some stayed in London for other reasons.

In major European cities such as Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Madrid and Milan, there are often some royal descendants of the Great Chu Empire visiting, and they basically live in the local royal palaces.

Judging from his appearance, Prince Chu Zhengyuan inherited the characteristics of his father. He is also tall, with an upright and thin figure, a carefully groomed mustache between his lips, and a noble and otherworldly temperament.

He is a top student who graduated from the Manila Advanced Military Academy and holds the rank of Army Major General. He also studied at the University of Manila and obtained a diploma from the Business School.

Situations like this are very common among royal children.

The princes left the palace and lived alone at the age of 15, and their main task was to continue their studies.

You don't have to learn it, but don't expect anything in the future. You'll just have to live on the salary of an earl until you die.

By the time of the emperor's grandson, the earl was naturally downgraded to viscount, and then to baron. After three generations, he would lose his noble title.

These impoverished descendants of the royal family could only receive a knight's salary and live a middle-class life, becoming increasingly distant from their former glory and wealth.

My father is shrouded in countless sacred halos. He is a god that all the princes revere and worship. He is a lofty figure that is unattainable.

My father has always been very strict and serious, but he is particularly fond of the princes who excel in their studies and often praises them.

The Chu royal family has
There were 52 princes and 37 princesses, most of whom were married. I'm afraid my father didn't have much impression of many of them, let alone the emperor's grandchildren, let alone the emperor's favor.

If you want to get extra attention from your father, excellent academic performance is essential, and this is also the simplest and most direct way.

In order to maintain this royal favor, there was a lot of infighting among the royal family members.

The Thirteenth Prince has already obtained five academic degrees. He received extra praise from his father, the Emperor, at the Winter Solstice Ceremony and was promoted to Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy and assigned to work in the Propaganda Department. This is proof of this.

Received the summons from His Highness
Foreign Minister Pan Yuchen and Colonial Minister Li Jinghui arrived quickly and saw the secret telegram of the emperor's oral instructions. They were both surprised.

This timely secret telegram opened the road to success.

Then they had a secret meeting behind closed doors and formulated a strategy for the next round of negotiations with Britain, which was soon put into practice.

Although His Majesty the Emperor softened his stance and lowered the negotiation line.

Those who are worthy of being a minister must share the worries of the king.

If you can spend less money and save a lot of merit, that is the ability to do your job.

The results are different when negotiating for 60 million pounds and 75 million pounds.

At this time, Cecil's cabinet was also in a state of panic and was eager to reach a letter of intent with the visiting Chu delegation, which would be beneficial to both sides.

At the beginning of the year

Her Majesty Queen Victoria, who created an unprecedented glorious history for Great Britain, passed away. The whole of Britain was immersed in immense grief, and the sky over London was gloomy.

The South African War was in its third year, and it was a terrible war for the proud British.

It shattered Britain's aura of invincibility and exposed its inner weakness. It was a landmark event in the decline of the British Empire and had far-reaching consequences.

Throughout Europe

The British Empire was in an unprecedented state of isolation. It was rare for it to have an ally like the State of Chu, and now a bilateral conflict was taking place.

The constant twists and turns in bilateral relations are simply adding insult to injury.

10 Downing Street

"Speak, gentlemen. The Chu delegation is staying in the palace next to Hyde Garden and is awaiting our attitude. It's time to make a decision."

Prime Minister Cecil looked much older than he did more than a year ago. He rubbed his hair-colored eyes and spoke in a low voice.

The cabinet members attending the meeting today were missing General Roberts, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, but had Lord Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, so there wasn't much change.

Admiral Roberts's opinion was clear;
The British army is not afraid of any enemy's challenge, but please don't hold the British army back, send all those damn supplies up and kill those Boers.

If there were sufficient war resources, killing those Oriental people in the Chu State would be a piece of cake.

Of course, regarding the second half of Admiral Roberts' arrogant words, many cabinet members present chose to ignore them and treated them as air.

The powerful combat effectiveness demonstrated by the Chu Royal Army in the Second East Indies War was so strong that nearly 3 Dutch troops were defeated and fled in disarray, as if they were being cut down with ease.

Others may not know this, but as British people who experienced the South African War firsthand, they knew how difficult the Dutch were to deal with.

Some people would say
Doesn’t the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies have more than 20 troops under his command?
This brings up the Europeans' usual arrogance. They subconsciously ignored the indigenous vassal troops. Whether they participated in the war or were killed or injured, they were completely trivial matters that did not need to be taken seriously.

Just like the British army in South Africa, no matter how heavy the casualties of the British Indian Division were, only the casualties of white officers and soldiers were counted, and the casualties of these colonial troops were directly ignored.

As the saying goes; As long as India's blood is not shed, the British Empire will not lose.

The battle report shows that the British army suffered more than 22000 casualties, but don't take it seriously.

Throughout the thousands of years of human history, we have experienced countless wars, and no party in any war would truly verify the number of casualties.

Either exaggerate or shrink.

Don’t take the war cost of more than 200 million pounds seriously. How big is the real loss?

The British suffered a loss and are bitter about it. They won't want the rest of the world to laugh at them. They'll just swallow their anger and bear the consequences. That's probably what happened.

Colonial Secretary Chamberlain, who led the South African War almost from beginning to end, is now criticized by the Liberal Party as a warmonger who wants to put the blame on him.

As a very promising young cabinet member of the Conservative Party, Chamberlain was very careful about his reputation and immediately said:
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, judging from the negotiations with the Orientals over the past year or so, it seems that 50 million pounds in compensation is already the limit.

Must admit

The huge bank loans obtained by the State of Chu during the South African War provided strong support to the British army in fighting this difficult war.

From this perspective, it aligns with the role of a close regional partner.

On Australian affairs
Since you can't keep it, why not be more tolerant?"

His speech caused an uproar among the cabinet members, most of whom expressed disdain and contempt, and many unpleasant words were clearly heard. Chamberlain is really a dog!
The South African War that broke out was the result of the joint efforts of Chamberlain and his good friend, Cecil Rhodes, the current Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.

At that time, Chamberlain played the role of a radical expansionist colonialist who advocated using guns to speak.

Turning to the Australian incident, due to changes in the domestic and international situation, strong pressure was exerted on the London government, and Chamberlain transformed himself into a pacifist.

In the face of everyone's criticism, Chamberlain's expression remained unchanged, and he looked worried about the country and the people.

As a rising star in the political arena who symbolizes the emerging power of the conservatives, Colonial Secretary Chamberlain has a promising future and is extremely thick-skinned. These ridicules have no effect on him at all.

Why do politicians have face?

Everything is done from the perspective of interests. Australia is like a bride who is determined to elope and cannot be kept back no matter what. Why not let go and reap some benefits? When will it be?

As everyone was discussing, Finance Minister Smith-Bannerman sighed dejectedly and said:
"I second the motion. The Kingdom's finances are in tatters. Repeated tax increases have caused strong dissatisfaction among the middle and lower classes, and their anger could overthrow the Conservative Party. I would like to remind you that the next general election will be next year."

Bannerman's words were like a bucket of cold water, chilling the cabinet members who had just been talking big, and they all fell silent.

Even if I don't want to do it, the situation is stronger than me!

The opposition Liberal Party fiercely criticized the South African War, accusing it of being "a disappointing and stupid war, in which Britain was left alone and helpless, and the Cecil Cabinet must take responsibility..."

The polls are not optimistic, and the Conservative Party's support rate has dropped sharply.

Even in traditional Conservative strongholds, the party's support rate has declined to varying degrees, which is a very dangerous signal.

The British Foreign Secretary, Lord Henry Campbell, broke the brief silence and echoed:

"I second the motion that the past two years of my diplomatic career have been a nightmare, let it all end. We need the good news of a two-state treaty to boost the confidence of Conservative voters who support us, and hesitation will only lead to missed opportunities."

"I second the motion, damn it, even though I'm extremely reluctant."

"Second, it's time to end this."

Watching the cabinet members express their opinions, Prime Minister Cecil suggested, "In that case, let's vote by raising our hands. Those who agree to conclude a compensation treaty with the State of Chu regarding Australian affairs, please raise your hands. Britain needs your decision."

The cabinet members raised their hands one after another, but some die-hards still had sour faces and refused to give in.

Prime Minister Cecil looked around and said to the cabinet secretary, "Alright, by a show of hands vote of 8:5, the cabinet has passed. Please indicate in the cabinet meeting minutes that I personally agree with this motion. That's it."

"As you wish, Your Excellency," the Cabinet Secretary replied.

Everyone present seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when this difficult agenda was passed.

The worst has passed, and no one can deny that the British Empire is still glorious and still dominates major political affairs on the planet.

The negotiations were handed directly over to the Foreign Secretary, Lord Henry Campbell, with the final deadline set on the last day of the Chu diplomatic mission's departure.

The main current differences

What is the amount of the compensation package?

The Chu State has always insisted on not exceeding 50 million pounds. After all, this is just compensation for Australia's submission to the Chu Empire, not the purchase of an Australian colony. The two are fundamentally different.

One reason is that his daughter has someone she loves, and whether she is married in a formal way or eloped, she must live with the State of Chu, and this money is equivalent to a dowry.

One is to sell the daughter directly, and this money is the money from selling the daughter.

That is to say, the British Empire was powerful both at home and abroad. If it were a slightly weaker power, the Great Chu Empire would not pay a penny at all.

The Great Chu Empire occupied the Dutch East Indies colony with a population of more than 130 million, but only paid a symbolic compensation of several million silver dollars, which was about million pounds.

Compared with Australia's transactions involving tens of millions of pounds, the British Empire still has a lot of face.

Because Australia has been independent since January 1901, 1, it is an independent country with freedom and rights, and has in fact broken away from the scope of the British Empire colony.

under these circumstances
The Chu State was still able to offer fairly high compensation and promised to give non-discriminatory national treatment to white Australians, allowing them to come and go freely, and their personal and property safety would be fully protected.

Moreover, they promised to provide a large amount of pound sterling loans, totaling tens of millions of pounds, which was a very attractive condition.

For Britain, which is facing extreme cash and financial difficulties, it is precious drinking water given to desert travelers, allowing them to continue their journey.

It seems reasonable for London to make appropriate concessions to show its sincerity. (End of this chapter)