A majestic watch made of white marble stands majestically on the headland of the seafront, overlooking the waterfront of the Port of Cologne. In this Huabiao-centric square, the crowd is crowded, Chinese, white, Indian and even black, vendors selling all kinds of gadgets, officers in police uniforms walking through the crowd, occasionally faintly hearing police whistles in the distance, and then police shouts in the streets.

In the past five years, hundreds of thousands of immigrants from China have transformed the city, which was once full of Spanish style, into a Chinese-style city, and this Huabiao Plaza is one of the representatives.

Nowadays, few passers-by in this memorial square look up at the inscription engraved on the pedestal of Huabiao, which reads: "To celebrate the annexation of Panama to the Chinese Empire in the sixth year of Kaihong, this tower is specially erected to commemorate it." ”

This seemingly inconspicuous building is, to a certain extent, the "triumphal arch" of this now huge empire on earth, and the starting point of this empire, where the Chinese Empire is sounding the clarion call to redivide the world.

A world war caused by a naval battle ended two years ago. The war changed everything, and with the decline of an empire also came the rise of the Chinese Empire, which was opened for eight years, and the territory of the Chinese Empire was vast, from Asia to Africa, from Southeast Asia to Oceania, which could be said to be boundless, and the sun would never set on the realm of the empire.

After the end of the war, the Chinese who had lived in the country for generations completely abandoned the concept of "parents are not far away", and they longed for a colony full of opportunities, which was the biggest change brought by the war to people - during the war, people fully understood the colony, and understood the wealth and vastness there. Millions of people traveled to the colonies on steamships and sailing ships, bidding farewell to the homeland and relatives who raised them, and starting their new life in the colonies.

Panama, the empire's overseas province, is no exception, and immigration from within the country has revolutionized the demographics of the province, especially in the cities of Panama City and Colón, where Chinese are already the main inhabitants.

The Gulf of Limon, where the port of Cologne is located, is now the most prosperous port in the entire Caribbean, and the converted isthmus railway has flourished trade here – and, more importantly, more importantly, to the southern part of the United States, where smugglers from all over the world gather to smuggle all kinds of supplies to the southern United States and from the south to transport cotton to China and Europe.

Just a year ago, the largest dock in the area was built in Cologne Bay, a 240-meter-long and 32-meter-wide dock, which could even be used to repair the "Great Eastern" - the most famous migrant ship in China known as the "maritime city", if it sailed into the port of Cologne, of course, it would never sail into this port, after the war, as the largest migrant ship, it did not change the structure of the wartime as a troop carrier, but used as a migrant ship, Each voyage could transport 15,000 immigrants to the North American colonies.

As for Panama, at most, there will be some immigration ships of about 1,000 tons, but such immigration ships are the real main force, and more than 80% of the immigrants leave their homeland and come to the colony on those wooden-hulled sailing ships. However, the trend of large-scale and steel-making merchant ships is inevitable, and it is for this reason that the large shipyard built at the Caribbean Dockyard in Cologne is undoubtedly the right one.

Especially for the Navy, this dock is the only place in the Caribbean where the Navy can maintain warships, and it is for this reason that as the "Prime-Sea" combat ship, this cutting-edge warship will sail into the port of Cologne and enter the Caribbean dockyard for maintenance after leaving the West Sea Naval Station.

When the warship was under maintenance, the hundreds of officers and men accompanying the ship naturally entered their "vacation", and while the older sailors and officers enjoyed the exotic atmosphere of those mixed-race girls in the club of the naval station, the dozen or so young naval students who accompanied the ship looked at the city of Cologne curiously. This was the first time they came to the so-called overseas provinces

"Overseas provinces, different colonies, different domestic provinces! The governorship system is practiced in the provinces of the country, while the governor-general system is the system of governor-generals, and the governor-general is responsible for all military and political affairs in the overseas provinces......"

Walking on the road of Cologne, while the students talked about the differences in overseas provinces, Deng Shichang looked at the city in front of him with his eyes, between the continuous Chinese buildings made of reinforced concrete on both sides of the street, there are also some Western-style buildings, and even a Catholic church, he is curious about everything here, this is the first time he left the school for voyage training.

"Shichang, what do you think is the difference between this place and the West Sea, as well as the colonies we passed through?"

Seeing that Deng Shichang didn't say a word, Li Detian asked.

"One day, all the colonies will become overseas provinces!"

Deng Shichang said with great certainty.

"Two years ago, Panama's ethnic Chinese population was 70% of the country's population, so after a referendum, it will be incorporated into China as a vassal state and become an overseas province, and the population plays a decisive role, if the Chinese population in the African colonies exceeds 70%, they will definitely seek to become an imperial overseas province, not a colony......"

Because he was a Cantonese person, Deng Shichang did not speak fast to avoid his Chinese language being incomprehensible to others, and as a soldier, he had to abandon Cantonese and learn to speak in Chinese.

"Shichang, I think you're completely wrong!"

Wu Desheng immediately interrupted him and said.

"You only see the surface, you don't see the substance, Panama is incorporated into the empire, it has its special geographical location, as for Africa, one thing is for sure, at least in the next fifty years, even a hundred years, it will not be possible to become an overseas province, even if His Majesty decrees it in the future...... Well, it should have been the Imperial Diet at that time......"

In the past two years, a dispute over the choice of prime minister led to a joint letter from more than 100 Cantonese officials submitting a "proposal for the establishment of an elected parliament" to His Majesty. In this compromise, it argues that if China is to maintain its national fortunes and become a strong country, it should establish a democratically elected rather than an elected legislature to end the autocratic rule of the bureaucracy.

As a starting point, the civil rights movement, which criticized the political system of the commissioning bureaucracy, began to develop, and political associations appeared everywhere. As we all know, the reason for this phenomenon was the defeat of the Cantonese officials in the center, who tried to change the situation in which the central cabinet was controlled by Huguang and Liangjiang through popular elections. Of course, it was also influenced by the West – although Britain was defeated, it did not prevent China from continuing to learn from Britain and other Western countries.

It is precisely because of the changes in the domestic political situation that His Majesty promulgated the "Edict on the Constitutional Form of Government" on the first day of the first month of this year, in which he announced to the people: "I ...... The Senate is hereby established to open the source of legislation. In addition, local officials and elites were summoned to gradually establish a constitutional state of government in order to convey the feelings of the people and seek public welfare...... and this edict announced to the people that the empire would establish a senate and a council, and gradually implement a constitutional monarchy in stages.

It is for this reason that the "Imperial Parliament" appears in the discourse of the people, although according to the central government, it will take 20 to 30 years to gradually implement a constitutional monarchy. But they believed that a constitutional monarchy was inevitable in the future. After all, His Majesty has promised to "return the government to the people" at the right time. It is precisely for this reason that Wu Desheng refers to the "Imperial Parliament." ”

"Let's not talk about the Imperial Council for the time being, Shichang should know where the Council was first established?"

"Panama!"

Deng Shichang immediately replied that Panama even had a "parliament" because it was independent in the form of a "republic".

"The overseas provinces and colonies were the first places to set up councils, and the reason why the colonies have set up councils since last year is to balance the power of the colonial governors, and on the other hand, to accumulate experience in the establishment of councils in the future at the local level in the country, do you think it is possible for the colonies to agree to the colonies as overseas provinces to be incorporated into the empire, and then accept the direct administration of the imperial administration?"

Wu Desheng's words made Deng Shichang immediately look at him curiously and asked.

"Why can't it be?"

"Because ......"

Wu Desheng pointed to a passer-by who was setting up a stall across the street and said with a smile.

"Because they, in the colonies, almost every family had indentured laborers, both from vassal states like Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and natives, and in the colonies, those immigrants needed indentured laborers to manage the plantations for them, to grow crops, and a lot of indentured laborers, and they didn't even have basic personal freedom, to paraphrase the British, well, almost slavery......"

"The British, they're embarrassed to say this, and don't forget, their Brazilian colonies still have millions of black slaves! When they sent troops to Brazil, didn't they keep saying that they couldn't accept the enslavement of man to man? Why not abolish slavery now! ”

Li Detian couldn't help but ridicule that two years ago, almost immediately after the armistice, the British Parliament attacked Brazil's slavery under the pretext of the "Paraguayan War", and two months later, he directly sent troops to "emancipate the black slaves", but who would have thought that after Pedro II of the Brazilian Empire was forced to surrender, no one would mention the "emancipation of the black slaves" anymore.

"But in any case, under the indentured labor system, the indigenous people are the greatest wealth of the immigrants, and without indentured labor, their farms cannot be cultivated and railways cannot be built."

Because of the fact that he had traveled to migrant farms to investigate the relationship between bases and naval stations in Africa, Wu was well aware of what indentured labor meant to the colonies.

In the colony, the price of an indigenous indentured laborer is 30 to 85 yuan, and many families have as few as four or five indentured laborers, and as many as dozens or even hundreds, like many nobles in the country, there are often thousands or even tens of thousands of indentured laborers in their fiefs, and labor is a symbol of wealth in the colony, but in the country, it is ...... This is illegal, and don't forget, even indentured laborers in vassal states are required to pay wages. …… If the colony is upgraded to an overseas province, many special colonial laws will be repealed, including indentured labor, and its legitimacy will be lost. ”

After Wu Desheng's explanation, Li Detian and Deng Shichang were dumbfounded, but Deng Shichang still frowned.

"How can they do this, don't they know, this is the trend of the times? Is the elevation of the colonies to overseas provinces categorically rejected because of their selfish interests? Senate ...... Shouldn't the interests of the country and its citizens be considered first? ”

"They have the interests of the people in mind, because every family has indentured laborers, don't look at it, when we are in the naval station, it is also customary to have a native attendant standing next to us, and when you command him, he will obediently say, "Yes, master!" ”……”

The words of his classmates immediately reminded Deng Shichang of the waiting of those indigenous attendants in the naval station and the raw Chinese in their mouths: "Obey, master!" Even he didn't think there was anything wrong with it at the time, but now it seems that it is really like Wu Detian said, indentured labor has long infiltrated all aspects of the colony.

"Actually, I think you're all overthinking!"

Suddenly, Li Desheng interjected on the side.

"Whether it is indentured laborers or slaves, with the progress of society, they will eventually disappear, and it will be their initiative, I think that in the colonies in a few decades, indentured laborers will definitely disappear, and after a few decades, when Japan, Korea, and Vietnam are incorporated into the empire, when the time comes, the Imperial Colony Department will need to guarantee immigration loans for them, and naturally there will be no indentured laborers, and after they arrive in the colonies, they will definitely marry indigenous people, so that after a few decades or more than a hundred years, after continuous integration, Naturally the indentured laborers disappeared because they had no one to sign with, and when the time came, they were naturally willing to ...... for the overseas provinces."

When Li Desheng's words fell, Deng Shichang looked at some pedestrians on the street, and his originally frowning brow finally relaxed, as if comforting himself.

"Yes, Britain can merge with Brazil, how can our colonial council reject the annexation to China? You say, this time we go to Brazil, can we meet the Queen of England? ”

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