America 1869: A Doppelganger Every Day

Chapter 138

The incident involving Liuqiu had already put the Qing Empire on its guard.

After all, they are still nominally the suzerain state of the Liuqiu Kingdom.

However, the Qing Empire did not gain any substantial benefits from the affairs of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

If there was any, it was only that some local officials and a group of students were assigned to teach Mandarin and simplified Chinese characters.

They didn't even control Liuqiu's education system or the system for appointing and dismissing officials.

The Qing Empire was very dissatisfied with this.

After all, your Far East gained so many benefits in Liuqiu, while our Great Qin Empire gained nothing, which made Empress Dowager Cixi very unhappy.

Therefore, when faced with the requests from Vietnam and Cambodia, the Empress Dowager was prepared to refuse on the spot.

However, just as the Empress Dowager was about to refuse, someone stepped forward.

Li Changsheng has been in the world for more than four years, and naturally, he has more than one avatar in the Qing Empire than Dao Xuan.

After Dao Xuan became the Imperial Preceptor, Li Changsheng's clones began to enter the officialdom of the Qing Empire.

Currently, there are two clones of Li Changsheng in the imperial court.

One was an imperial censor, and the other was in the Ministry of Revenue.

After the Empress Dowager refused, Li Changsheng's censor clone stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, I believe this matter must be approved."

"Under the current circumstances, if they do not agree, then the Far East has no reason to help Vietnam and Cambodia."

"If Jiaozhi and Cambodia were colonized by the French Empire, then the southern gateway of our Great Qing Empire would be completely opened to the French Empire, which would be equivalent to opening it to all Western countries."

"This is of no benefit to our Great Qing Empire."

"Although the Far East also poses a threat to our Great Qin Empire, we have also signed a permanent non-aggression pact."

.

"With this agreement in place, the Far East will not take action against the Qing Empire unless absolutely necessary."

"At the same time, the proposals of Jiaozhi and Jianpuzhai only resulted in them becoming protectorates in the Far East."

"This will ensure that these two countries remain our southern gateways, preventing Western countries from entering our Great Qing Empire through Jiaozhi."

"Therefore, I believe that the request should be granted no matter what."

"However, in this situation, although it is of long-term benefit to our Great Qing Empire, it is not of great benefit in the short term. Therefore, we can add certain clauses on this basis to increase the benefits for our Great Qing Empire."

"In this way, we can safeguard the interests of our Great Qin Empire while also preventing the southern gateway from being wide open and leaving the Great Qin Empire under the watchful eyes of the western powers."

It must be said that both the Empress Dowager and the other civil and military officials present agreed with Li Changsheng's analysis.

The Empress Dowager hadn't spoken in the first place, but now that someone had offered her a way out, she naturally accepted it.

"That's a good idea."

"My esteemed ministers, do you have any suggestions that would allow the Far East, Vietnam, and Cambodia to agree simultaneously, thus making this possible?"

As soon as Empress Dowager Cixi spoke, the civil and military officials below began to offer their suggestions.

However, some suggestions were simply too impractical and were therefore rejected.

The Qing Empire subsequently made several decisions.

First, the Qing Empire was responsible for education in Jiaozhi and Cambodia, while the education department was handed over to the Qin Empire.

Primarily responsible for the dissemination of Chinese culture and the promotion of simplified Chinese characters and Mandarin.

Secondly, Liu Ming, who was stationed in the south of the Qing Empire, could be moved to Jiaozhi (Vietnam), and some undeveloped areas would have to be allocated to these refugees for their livelihood.

It wasn't that the Qing Empire didn't want to sell these refugees; there were simply too many refugees.

Many migrants simply do not want to go to the Far East or Europe and America.

One side is too cold and the other side is too far away.

For these people, all they needed was a safe place to survive. The vast undeveloped lands of Cochinchina and Cambodia became their ideal habitat.

This is tantamount to a form of disguised colonization.

At the same time, the Qing Empire would also arrange for people to manage these refugees, thus giving the Qing Empire a certain degree of power.

This can be considered a form of indirect protection.

Third, this is also the point that the civil and military officials of the Qing Empire cared about the most.

Merchants of the Qing Empire were permitted to participate in commercial and trade activities between the two countries.

The civil and military officials present all understood that the Far East was able to gain so much benefit in Liuqiu because of Far Eastern merchants.

If the Far East can do this, then their Great Qing Empire can do it too.

Apart from these three points, the rest were minor issues. Once they presented these terms, Vietnam and Cambodia immediately agreed.

In just a few days, the Qing Empire, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Far East reached a four-nation agreement.

The agreement stipulated that Jiaozhi and Cambodia were tributary states of the Qing Empire and protectorates in the Far East.

In addition to the terms of the Qing Empire, the Far East also had its own terms.

The terms signed between the Far East and the two countries clearly stipulated that, as a protectorate, the Far East would control the coastal areas and ports of Cochinchina and Cambodia.

Both countries are permitted to each establish their own naval forces.

At the same time, generals in various regions must transfer 50% of their troops to the Far East to form the Cochin Army Group and the Cambodian Army Group.

The troops under the command of the generals will be reorganized into local defense forces.

Both sides will cooperate to safeguard the security of Vietnam and Cambodia, while also developing and building both countries.

After the personnel involved in the accident finalized the matter over the phone, the documents were signed by the Far East Consuls stationed in China, the Consuls stationed in Vietnam, and the Consuls in Cambodia.

The agreement will officially take effect once all signatures have been completed by our side.

From that moment on, Jiaozhi and Cambodia became tributary states of the Qing Empire and protectorates in the Far East.

After the document was signed, the Far East Third and Fourth Fleets also departed from Vladivostok and headed south.

Meanwhile, it was rumored that the Far East was going to colonize Vietnam and Cambodia, and even King Shang Thai of the Ryukyu Kingdom was preparing to get a share of the spoils.

Upon hearing of King Shang Tai's idea, Liu Xiangdong immediately persuaded the officials of Jiaozhi to agree.

Only by agreeing to King Sho Tai's request could more colonizing countries understand that accepting colonization in the Far East was the best way to protect their national sovereignty, and at the same time, their leaders could also gain more benefits.

Therefore, in addition to the First Naval Fleet of the Far East, the Ryukyu Fleet also dispatched most of its forces southward.

After the third and fourth fleets arrive at Liuzhou, the second fleet will also head south to Jiaozhi.

The Far East will officially begin its contest with France.