The early morning drizzle covered the sky and the earth, and the drizzle made the docks wet. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info but only half an hour later, the rain stopped, the sun hesitated to rush out of the clouds, but with reservations, part of the pier was illuminated by the sun, and the other part was sheltered from the sun. On the coal hills on the docks, there are also cranes with rainwater hanging from them.

At Pernow, steamships and sailboats were moored, and the dock workers were once again busy loading the ships with all kinds of industrial products and even flour and other commodities produced in Europe or the eastern part of the United States, while at the same time, thousands of passengers were vying to board the steamers—these people from the eastern part of Europe and the United States were looking into the distance with great anticipation, as if the dream of making a fortune was at hand, and a mountain of gold beckoned to them thousands of miles away!

That's why they chose to pass through the Panama Railroad instead of going halfway around the world and from the Strait of Magerly to San Francisco.

Panama City, a small city on the eastern coast of the Pacific Ocean, slowly became prosperous a few years ago with the opening of the Isthmus Railroad, especially after the gold rush in the western United States, where tens of thousands of people pass through every year to make their way to the west.

Trains and ports prospered the city, and the railroad was the lifeblood of the city, but this lifeblood had always been east-to-west, and this was even reflected in the price of its freight - the price from east to west was twice as high as that from west to east, and perhaps only this railway in the world would have implemented such a very different price.

As the train leaves the Panama train station, it quickly enters the dense rainforest, staggering around a curved section of the tracks, the trees even piercing into the rainforest, and the iron wheels on the tracks rattle regularly, at which point the train is like a fairy walking through the rainforest.

An Iron Elf!

The trains to the east are empty - after all, there are not many people in Panama native, and most of the passengers here are pioneers who go to the west, and of course there are more gold diggers now, not every gold prospector can return home with gold, and many of them will live in the west forever, so that the train cars to the east are always empty, especially the overhead compartments - are always idle, but there are exceptions, such as now.

Unlike in the past, the passengers in this carriage were a group of Orientals from Bogotá - Chinese diplomats in New Granada (Colombia).

In the past half month, they have been investigating the overseas Chinese along the line -- according to a letter sent by a Chinese, they believe that the Panama Isthmus Railway Company illegally enslaved Chinese laborers during the construction of the road, and although those people are indentured Chinese laborers, according to the information they have, they have obtained sufficient evidence to prove that the railway company is illegally enslaving Chinese laborers.

Now, at the end of the whole investigation, the passengers in the carriage were silently smoking cigarettes, writing scattered, incoherent comments, and looking out the window, if anyone noticed, among them, in addition to ordinary diplomats, there were also shaved military personnel, the army and navy attachés at the embassy in New Granada, who, unlike the others, were on staff trips.

Li Defu, the talented ambassador to New Granada, squeaked his cornstalk pipe as soon as he got into the car, and then, realizing that the cigarette had burned out, began to pour the white soot into the ash box on the wall of the car.

"You should know that here Americans enjoy a lot of privileges!"

He asked Qiao Pingli, who was sitting across from him, and although he was wearing a suit, he was actually an army major, and he looked up from the page of papers in his hand that he was looking at.

"There's a little bit of understanding."

Nodding, he looked at the ambassador and said,

"Sixteen years ago, New York businessmen created the Isthmus Railway Joint Stock Company and obtained a permit to build a road from the government of New Granada. The following year, the United States and the Government of Colombia signed the Treaty of Peace, Amity, Navigation, and Commerce between the United States and New Granada, which gave United States citizens, vessels, and merchandise completely tax-free from tax in all Colombian ports and the Isthmus area, and the same privileges and immunities as the Colombian Company and its vessels and commodities in trade and navigation, to defend the neutrality of Barnabas in the event of an external attack or civil disturbance, and to help preserve Colombia's sovereignty over the Isthmus. Four years later, the US Secretary of State and the British Plenipotentiary Henry ? Bulvoir signed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty in Washington, D.C., which prohibits neither the United States nor Britain from gaining or maintaining any exclusive control over the canal, but it is well known that British intervention in Panama was limited to the exclusivity of the canal, and there is no canal here! ”

As for the ambassador's inquiry, Qiao Ping replied straightforwardly.

"So, you think there's a chance." Huo Chengliang, who is a naval attaché, looked at him and said.

Nodding, Qiao Pingli said directly.

"Yes, now is the opportunity, the United States is now on the verge of civil war, our fleet has ended its visit to the United States, I think, we can use the opportunity of the fleet's visit, invite the fleet to visit Panama, and then use the Chinese labor incident to decisively occupy Panama, so as to control this chokepoint, now, the British have controlled Suez, and we need to control Panama, only in this way, can we cut off the footsteps of the United States to the Pacific."

Although he was not a naval officer, Qiao Pingli was also very aware of the importance of the Pacific Ocean to China, perhaps the Pacific Ocean was large, but it could not accommodate two large powers, and on the way to Bogotá from China, he had already formed a concept in his heart - to occupy Hawaii and Panama, the former could allow China to gain a foothold in the middle of the Pacific, and the latter could cut off the possibility of the United States getting involved in the Pacific. This has given China an overwhelming offensive position against the United States.

"Despite our intention to expand our colonies, we have not yet seized them from other nations."

Li Defu said directly.

"This is likely to cause hostility towards us in South America, and perhaps their strength is not worth mentioning, but they are some Western countries after all, and we are too far from here! If they choose to resist, the most important question is whether they can defend Panama with just a little military force! ”

The ambassador's words made the others frown, this is indeed a problem, and after a while, Huo Chengliang spoke.

"They won't necessarily resist!"

Huo Chengliang's answer made everyone stunned, and they all turned their eyes to him.

"On April 15, 1856, an American was shopping in Panama and had a dispute with a seller, and the Panamanians and Americans on the sidelines became more and more agitated. In a chaotic shootout, 31 Americans were killed and wounded, and 15 Panamanians were killed or wounded. The United States Special Envoy Plenipotentiary demanded that the Government of Colombia promptly compensate for the damages, otherwise the United States would immediately occupy the Isthmus of Panama. The Colombian government was very strong, and President López replied: "It is extremely unfair and tyrannical to insist that any passer-by of the isthmus have the right to shoot at our citizens, and our citizens must be submissive, and a people who tolerate such humiliation do not deserve to live!" ””

As a soldier, when telling this sentence, Huo Chengliang even had an urge to applaud him, but the interaction between countries is about strength.

"What happened next, everybody knows, a few months later, on September 19, 160 U.S. Marines landed and occupied Panama. The Colombian government found that its bones were no harder than the guns of the United States, and it relented and expressed its willingness to pay compensation. ”

After telling this past, Huo Chengliang frowned and said.

"Perhaps, we can follow the example of the Americans!"

"Emulate the Americans?"

"Yes!"

With a deep groan, Huo Chengliang said his other idea.

"We can be like the Americans, provoke an incident, and then ask our warships to intervene, and now, our fleet is visiting the United States, and if at this time, we send marines from the Pacific Ocean to occupy and control Panama City, and face the imminent threat of the fleet, what will happen to the Colombians?"

After Huo Chengliang asked this question, he continued.

"Maybe they will resist, but considering the choice made by the Colombians five years ago, I believe that they will choose to negotiate, after all, they know very well that we are far superior to them."

"Negotiations? What to negotiate? Compensation issues? ”

Qiao Pingli's lips grinned, and he said with some dissatisfaction.

"The Navy needs Panama more than we do!"

He was reminding him of the importance of Panama to the navy, but Huo Chengliang smiled disapprovingly,

"All we need is negotiations, and as soon as the negotiations start, we can give some alternative terms to negotiate. We can sit down and negotiate with them about how to solve the problem. ”

He smiled, looked at Qiao Pingli and said.

"I think that when the time comes, we can negotiate the cession of the province of Panama to us!"

Cedion the province of Panama to us!

After he said this, everyone was stunned, and they all looked at Huo Chengliang in surprise. But no one took the initiative to speak.

Li Defu slowly rubbed his hot pipe. As the new consul in Banaba, Pham Quoc Bang took off his glasses and put them back on. Qiao Pingli stared down at the broken carpet.

Sighing, after a while, Qiao Pingli said.

"Okay,"

As he spoke, he looked at Huo Chengliang and said,

"Well, even if we put it on, how could those Colombians accept our terms?"

How could those Colombians cede the province of Panama to China?

That's the most important question. There was nothing wrong with occupying Panama City, in fact, Panama City could be said to be a completely defenseless city, with only a few improvised artillery batteries and a ragged soldiers, but how could these arrogant Colombians abandon Panabanas?

After a long while, Li Defu's eyes kept staring at the two army and navy officers in the carriage, if they were replaced by Manchu officers in the past, would they have such ambitions? Here, the two of them are talking about occupying a city thousands of miles away, and letting a country cede a province that is extremely geographically important!

Wouldn't they be too arrogant?

Of course, Li Defu will not say that, as an ambassador, of course, he supports the control of Panama, after all, the geographical location here is too important.

"Oh, I think with what I know about Colombians now, especially about the officials and parliamentarians, I believe that they are all valuable!"

As usual, he glanced at the ambassador.

"Right? Your Excellency Ambassador! ”

"Indeed."

Li Defu nodded tiredly and expressed his agreement.

"As long as you offer the right price, you can get them to make big concessions, like the Treaty of Amity and Commerce that we signed with them last year."

The signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce granted Chinese citizens, ships and goods completely duty-free in all Colombian ports and the isthmus area, and enjoyed the same privileges and immunities as Colombian citizens and their ships and commodities in trade and navigation. This is a precedent to follow the example of the United States, and the cost of doing so is that the embassy spent more than 500,000 pesos to bribe the president, as well as many officials and members of Congress.

The best thing about Colombia is that if you give enough bribes, you can get everything. In this regard, Li Defu, as an ambassador, is of course very clear,

"Alright then,"

After pondering for a moment, Li Defu said.

Now, let's think about it. If the Colombians agree to negotiate with us, how much will we have to pay to bribe them. ”

He shifted slightly in his chair before speaking in a slow tone.

"It's different from the treaties we've signed with them before, and it's different from any of the treaties that the Colombian government has signed, where we need them to cede their land to us, and in this case, I believe we need to pay a huge bribe."

Looking up, Li Defu looked very happy, because he also saw the opportunity.

"I think it should take 2 million!"

Then he said,

"In addition to that, in order to convince Colombia to agree to the cession, no, I think it should be to agree to sell the province of Panama to us, we need to pay no less than 10 million yuan."

"12 million!"

Huo Chengliang said immediately.

"I believe the Navy will support spending 12 million to take here!"

"No,"

Shaking his head, the corners of Li Defu's lips lifted slightly.

"If this goal can be achieved, the imperial government is even willing to take this place for 20 million, you know, this is the throat of the world! Before that, though, we have to take into account the Americans! But judging by the current situation in the United States, the problems of the United States will soon be resolved! ”

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