"Now that there is a consensus on the repatriation of the rebels, the matter will be left to Marshal Garcia and General Ebel."

Empress Isabella sat on the main seat and set the final tone for the repatriation of the Negroes, and then she turned her gaze to the royal in-law sitting in the front row, the commander-in-chief of the navy, Count Deu: "Count Deu, the next important matter concerning the Imperial Navy, I will introduce it to you. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Count Deu stood up and spoke: "In 1879, at the beginning of the division between the north and the south, the area controlled by the imperial government included the nine coastal states in the north-central region, and after the British intervened in the internal war of the empire, the republican rebels seized the southern part of Bahia from the imperial army. Salvoba, the temporary capital of the Empire, was constantly under threat from republican rebel armies. ”

Count de U simply recounted the situation facing the Brazilian Empire after the division between the North and the South, and there was no obvious change in mood on his face: "Between 1879 and 1883, the Imperial Navy inherited the main naval strength of His Majesty Pedro II, so that in the face of land military pressure from the republican rebellious government, it could rely on naval superiority to maintain the balance of the front-line forces of the two sides.

From 1883 onwards, however, the situation changed radically, and with the return of advanced warships ordered by the republican rebel clique from Britain to South America, the naval superiority of the Imperial Navy was quickly neutralized, and the immediate threat of the rebel bloc from the Reich mainland, especially Saldorva, the capital of the Empire from the front line of confrontation, grew. …………”

"El Salvador is the most important central city in the north-central region, and if the relocation of the central government institutions of the empire is due to the military threat of the southern republican bloc, I am afraid that it will cause panic and unpredictable political turmoil among ordinary subjects in the area controlled by the empire."

After listening to Count Deu's words and intuitively realizing the linkage effect caused by the imbalance of military forces of the army and navy on the front line, Duke Frobert immediately felt the seriousness of the matter.

"Moving the capital and moving the central government of the empire is the last step, and it cannot be taken until the front confrontation line collapses to the point of no return."

Duke Frobert pondered for a moment and said, "In addition to moving the capital, does His Excellency the Earl have any other way to deal with it?" ”

"Yes, Prime Minister Frobert."

Count Deu gave Duke Forbert an affirmative reply, explaining: "According to the intelligence analysis transmitted back from the European side (mainly the Portuguese royal family) and some southern naval officers who are inclined to the imperial government, the navy of the Southern Republican Group currently has three 5,000-ton armored cruisers ordered from the British, one 4,000-ton medium cruiser that is about to be completed, three old ironclads with a ranking of about 2,000 tons, and more than ten small shore defense gunboats. A naval fleet with a gross tonnage of between 24,000 and 28,000 tons.

Compared with the Imperial Navy, the Navy has a total of 31 ships of various types, with a total tonnage of 25,000 tons, and in terms of total naval tonnage, the Imperial Navy is at the same level as the naval forces controlled by the Southern rebel group.

However, in terms of actual naval operations, because most of the main naval forces owned by the Southern Republican Group are newly purchased advanced armored warships, and the main warships of the Imperial Navy are all old ironclad ships inherited from His Majesty Pedro's time, it is difficult for the Imperial Navy to undertake the heavy responsibility of defending the Imperial maritime security and assisting the Imperial Army in defending the homeland in the event of a large-scale naval conflict.

And to counteract the naval military pressure of the Southern Republican bloc on the empire itself, there are two main ways to deal with it,

The first is to resume the naval ship purchase program and seek to purchase advanced warships from European countries such as Britain, France, and Germany, so as to gradually reverse the imbalance in the naval strength of the North and the South.

The second is to break out of the circle of naval arms race and carry out political, economic, and military strikes against the southern republican bloc from other aspects, weaken the overall military strength of the southern republican bloc, and win time for the imperial government to restore its economy and develop its military strength. ”

"After the end of the counterinsurgency war on the Empire's homeland, when the repatriation plan is completed and the potential risk of rebellion in the Empire itself disappears, a part of the financial funds used for counterinsurgency funds can be transferred to the purchase of new warships."

Following the words of Count Deu, Marshal Garcia expressed his opinion.

Although Marshal García was born in the Brazilian Army, the scope of consideration is not limited to the army when his rank and position are reached, the army is the main force against the southern republican bloc, and the navy is also an indispensable force against the southern republican bloc.

"In the next two years, the imperial government can squeeze out a total of 350,000 pounds of foreign exchange funds (equivalent to 1.25 million taels of Kuping silver) to order an armored cruiser of about 5,000 tons."

After listening to the introduction of the Count of Deu, the Duke of Frobert knew that the order price of the 5,000-ton armored cruiser Aquitaban ordered by the Southern Republic Government in 1885 was 345,000 tons, so he added an additional 5,000 pounds to the quotation of the Aquitaban.

"Bahia is the area under the control of the Empire, where counterinsurgency activities have been carried out most thoroughly, and because Bahia borders the areas controlled by the rebel groups in the south, in the last seven or eight years, more than 100,000 whites dissatisfied with the measures taken by the republican groups have crossed the border and entered the north-central part of the state controlled by the Imperial Government. For the sake of the more than 100,000 subjects who follow Her Majesty the Empress in the state of Bahia, there is no compromise or concession. ”

The repatriation of blacks is a top priority for Ebel, as the core of the Brazilian Empire's current rule, the number of whites in the north-central part of Bahia has reached 140,000, and its share of the population has increased to 32 percent of the total population, and with the relocation and repatriation of blacks involved in the rebellion in the jurisdiction, and the continuous influx of white people in the south, the proportion of whites in the north-central part of Bahia controlled by the Brazilian Empire is likely to increase to 50 percent in the next five years. Love me

In order to smoothly carry out the plan for the repatriation of the blacks, Ebel followed the perspective of Marshal Garcia and also agreed to a certain degree of financial funds to the navy and order new warships.

It was in everyone's interest to deal with the threat of the southern republican government and defend the Brazilian Empire, so it became the consensus to order new warships to partially neutralize the military superiority of the southern navy.

"The core area of the imperial territory is occupied by the southern rebel group, and relying on the financial revenues of the eight and a half states in the central and northern coastal areas to engage in a naval arms race with the southern republican government is not conducive to the imperial government, therefore, while taking out a part of the financial funds to develop the military strength of the imperial navy, it is an aspect that the imperial government must pay attention to at present, while uniting external forces to contain and disperse the military strength of the southern republican government."

Skipping the specifics of the order for the new warships, Count de U focused on uniting external forces to counter the threat of the Brazilian Republican government: "Since the division of the empire between the north and the south, the situation in South America has undergone fundamental changes, although the king of Paraguay López Jr. has occupied a part of Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás through the opportunity of the lack of military strength of the Brazilian republican government, but the internal turmoil in Paraguay, coupled with the serious illness of López Jr., has gradually reduced the control of Paraguay. Even if the imperial government abandons its previous grievances and takes the initiative to unite with Paraguay, it will not achieve the goal of effectively containing the southern republican government.

In addition to Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia were affected by the Guano Wars and were divided by armed forces, and they were also unable to share the military pressure on the imperial government.

Excluding Paraguay, Peru, and Bolivia, the Han state, which was once hostile to the imperial government, ranks first in South America in terms of population and military strength, and is currently the only country capable of suppressing and threatening the southern republican government by force.

On the other hand, the comprehensive national strength of the Han State far exceeds that of South American countries, and although cooperation with the Han State is conducive to alleviating the military pressure from the Southern Republican Group, in the future, it may also bring greater military and political pressure to the imperial government because of the further growth of the Han State's strength. ”

Receiving the intention of cooperation from the Han side through Silva, Count de U was emotionally reluctant to agree to the fact of cooperation with the former enemy country, but in the face of the military threat of the southern republican bloc, before his personal interests and the survival of the entire Brazilian Empire were tested, Count de U finally put forward the cooperation plan conveyed by Silva at the meeting.

"Cooperation with the Han State has both risks and advantages, before the start of today's meeting, the Han side sent people to privately pass on the news, wanting to reach an agreement with the imperial government to deal with the military threat of the southern republican government, but the cooperation matter is too important, after I learned the news, I did not dare to conceal it, and after obtaining the permission of Her Majesty the Empress, I took the opportunity of this meeting to mention it to you in person, hoping that after your discussion, you can make an appropriate decision."

"The Orientals were too greedy for land, and their emperor always had his eyes on the northern lands, and cooperating with the Han State was too risky in the future.

However, if the olive branch extended by the Han State is rejected and the strength of the Empire alone is used to confront the Southern Republican government, which is supported by the British, I am afraid that the Imperial Government will fall under the military pressure of the Southern Republican Government and the British alliance before it sees the danger of further Han growth in the future. ”

The strength of the Han army and the Han emperor's greed for land have been known by the high-ranking members of the Brazilian Empire after several wars, but even if they know that cooperating with the Han means giving the Han a chance to grow their strength,

However, in the face of an imminent threat, the top brass of the Brazilian Empire chose the decision that was most favorable to them.

As the saying goes straight to the essence, there will be individuals who betray the class, but there will be no class that betrays the class.

The interests of the nobles and generals in the palace are dependent on the Brazilian Empire and the physique on which the empire depends, if the Brazilian Empire is gone, their interests will also be gone, compared to the possible future threat of the Han State in South America, it is not difficult to make a choice between the current class interests and the most important.

Ebel's words stated the need for cooperation with the Han Kingdom in South America, and the next good news revealed by the Count of Deu prompted the hesitant people to make a positive decision.

Count Deu was the commander of the Imperial Brazilian Navy, and while managing the affairs of the imperial Brazilian naval fleet, he also maintained close ties with some of the senior admirals within the navy of the Southern Republican Government who preferred the monarchy through the connections left over from the time of Pedro II.

The Count of Deu roughly told the secret he had to share with the public, and revealed that he would use the opportunity of the war between the Han State and the Southern Republican Government to incite the Southern Republican naval fleet anyway.

According to Count Deu's plan, if the action goes smoothly and a part of the warships of the Southern Republican Government Navy can be surrendered anyway, not only can the strength of the Imperial Brazilian Navy be enhanced, but also this can be used as a breakthrough to attack the ruling foundation of the Southern Republican Government and create favorable conditions for the reunification of the Brazilian Empire.

After the meeting, the officials within the Brazilian Empire were once again busy,

Ebel was in charge of carrying out the repatriation of the rebel blacks,

Count Deu was responsible for the purchase of advanced warships, the seizure of contacts, and the instigation of naval officers of the Southern Republican government.

Duke Frobert and the cabinet officials were busy raising financial funds on the one hand, and on the other hand, they carried out internal clean-up plans and massively suppressed the remaining dissidents within the empire. (This included republicans and black rebels hostile to the Brazilian Empire.) ）……