"You want Hawaii too, don't you?"

Kamihameha IV's question made the atmosphere in the room tense all the time. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Who else isn't interested in Hawaii?"

Under his gaze, after saying this, Li Guoan then picked up the coffee on the table, first tasted it, the taste of coffee in his mouth, the strange taste made him extremely uncomfortable, although he had been out for many years, but he still didn't like to drink coffee.

"Hawaii's special geographical location determines that it is impossible for you to maintain independence in this world, there is a saying in China, called "Puff is not guilty of his crimes", which means your country, that is, Hawaii, your special geographical location in the Pacific Ocean, so that any country that wants to control the Pacific Ocean will have ambitions for you, Spaniards, French, Americans, British, they are all full of desire for this place without exception, everything is only a matter of time......

Putting down the coffee cup in his hand, Li Guoan continued to meet the gaze of His Majesty the King.

"Now, is it the best option for Hawaii to remain independent?"

After this rhetorical question, he shook his head and said.

"Your Majesty, a Hawaii that remains independent is powerless to even stop the threat of the American diaspora, what if it is to face the threat of the United States or other countries? Then annexation will undoubtedly be inevitable! ”

In fact, as the king, of course, he is aware of the ambitions of those white people for Hawaii, and as Li Guoan said, everything is only a matter of time.

"Your Majesty, you have also learned from missionaries and scholars from various countries how those white people treat the natives, massacre and exile are their usual choices, and the Americans have expelled the Indians again and again in order to obtain land, and millions of Indians have been slaughtered and deported to live in the most harsh areas, which is very likely to be the fate of the future Hawaiian Kingdom, Your Majesty!"

Li Guoan half-squinted his eyes and said softly:

"Although this is only a possibility, no one can deny that this possibility exists!"

His finger pointed into the distance, pointed to the sea, and continued.

Looking at the consul in front of him in astonishment, although he didn't want to admit it, but as the king, the expression of Camhameha IV became more and more serious, which was what he was most worried about, now he was no longer Kamehameha I when Cook came to Hawaii, he knew very well that Europeans had destroyed one country after another to establish their rule, as for the former natives of the New World, where were they?

"Are you like them? Want to annex Hawaii? ”

Kamehameha IV asked again.

"Annexation of Hawaii ......"

Lighting a cigar cigarette, this is a Hawaiian cigar, the quality is not as good as Cuban cigars, but it is the best cigar in the Pacific, as a consul, Li Guoan chose it because it is a product produced by a Chinese factory.

"Last year, the U.S. ambassador to China asked the U.S. government whether the U.S. government would acquiesce if the Imperial Government were to try to annex the island peacefully and with the consent of the Hawaiian people. The then U.S. Secretary of State replied unequivocally that the U.S. did not agree to any other country's annexation of Hawaii. ”

After giving this answer, Li Guoan continued.

What does this answer mean? This means that if we want to annex Hawaii, we will have to risk war with your consent! Annex? I think, the Americans were wrong in the first place! Your Majesty! ”

Facing Kamihameha IV, who seemed to be a little puzzled, Li Guoan continued,

"We have never had the ambition or idea of annexing the Kingdom of Hawaii, His Majesty the King should know very well that in the history of more than 2,000 years, China has always treated the small countries around it as a protector, not to annex them, let alone enslave them, in the Chinese Confucian culture, it is a sentence to interpret the core of China's foreign exchanges, "do not do to others what you do not want to do to yourself", that is, what you do not want to do, you should not force others to do it, So we never tried to enslave other peoples and nations! No matter how weak they are, they are all friends to China, just like in "Zheng He's Voyage to the West", how can we ever bully and annex a small country there......"

When Li Guoan said this, Kamihameha IV nodded approvingly, four years ago, he had never known about China at all, but now he knows a lot about China, and of course he has also read "Zheng He's Voyage to the West" - among the 10,000 books donated by China to Hawaii, there is this novel, which is actually a "propaganda" novel, used to tell outsiders that China has never had any ambitions for expansion, especially for countries like the Kingdom of Hawaii.

"But, in the end, most of them are your vassals!"

As he said this, Kamehameha IV suddenly seemed to have figured out something.

"Vassal!"

In Zheng He's novels in the West, many countries have become vassals of China, and they voluntarily submit to China and accept China's canonization. As vassal states, they only need to pay tribute to some local specialties in exchange for China's recognition, as well as a large number of rewards. And what did the vassal state attach? It is just a vassal to China and a vassal to say that he is a vassal of China, but China will not interfere in the internal affairs of the vassal state, but when the king succeeds to the throne, he must accept the canonization of China, and he is the legitimate king! It can be said that the vassal kingdom gave almost nothing!

As for the vassal states, China naturally has the responsibility and obligation to protect them, and the vassal states have not paid anything, but they have received everything they need - the rewards of the empire, the protection of the empire, the former Hawaii does not need, but the latter, isn't it exactly what Hawaii needs?

"Your Excellency Consul, if ......"

Kamihameha IV stared at the consul in front of him and said in a tentative tone.

"Hawaii is willing to submit to China, just like Korea and Japan, and become a vassal state of China, so how will China treat us?"

Kamihameha IV's initiative was completely unexpected by Li Guoan, although he knew that the other party was just tempting, he still took a deep breath before speaking.

"Your Majesty, not every country can become a vassal state of China, and the vassal state of the Chinese Empire is not the same as the vassal state in the novel, but it is certain that the Chinese Empire will use the laws of the empire to protect the inheritance of the vassal royal family, and there will also be corresponding laws to protect the rights and interests of the people of the vassal country! This right is equal to that of the citizens of the Empire! ”

Is it equivalent?

At least on the surface, this is true, and of course only on the surface, and it is inevitable that the citizens of the kingdom will enjoy some privileges in the vassal state. Just as the citizens of the empire could enter the vassal state at will, but the subjects of the vassal state could not enter the empire territory at will, and with the privileges of commerce and other aspects, the status of the citizens of the empire in the vassal state has always been transcendent.

"If His Majesty is interested, there is a copy of the Law of the Domain at the Consulate, and His Majesty can learn about it through that law!"

Laws are just written on paper, and there are too many wordplay in them, and superficial non-interference does not mean actual non-interference, just as the appointment and dismissal of ministers and the passage of laws and regulations in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam must be signed by the superintendent before they can take effect. In fact, for China, the vassal state was just a kind of colony in disguise, a colony that enjoyed a certain range of autonomy.

"So how can you become a vassal state of China?"

Despite a brief understanding, Kamehameha IV realized that becoming a vassal state was undoubtedly the best option for Hawaii, at least in this way, to ensure the safety of the Hawaiian people and the royal family, and even from now on, there would be no need to worry about threats from other countries - all of this would be the responsibility of China.

Of course, there are gains and losses, and even if there are many losses, it will not be as it was in the past, when the power of the country was completely controlled by American missionaries. At the very least, the king would have his own power, not be killed by rebellious Americans or other white men someday.

"This ......"

After pondering for a moment, Li Guoan looked at Kamihameha IV, who seemed to be interested in becoming a vassal state of China, and then said.

"Your Majesty, if you are really interested, you may wish to consider sending His Royal Highness the Prince and other noble children to China on the return of the fleet, on the one hand, they can directly submit their credentials to His Majesty and make a request for joining the vassal, and on the other hand, if they wish, they can receive a systematic imperial education in the Imperial Noble School, where I think they can learn the orthodox Confucian culture, and only then can they become real imperial nobles and rulers of the future kingdom!"

Of course, these princes and nobles from the vassal states did not serve as "protons", but received systematic neo-Confucian education in the Imperial Noble School, a school established in imitation of the Western aristocratic public school, so as to bring them culturally close to China and strengthen their control over the vassal state through the cultural identity of their next generation.

Of course, there is also the fact that they can understand the suzerain, realize the strength of the suzerain, and realize how honored it is to be a vassal of the empire in this troubled world, so that they can be willing to be vassals of the empire.

What will be the fate of these feudal states in the future?

No one knows, but one thing is for sure, through cultural conquest, eventually, they will become part of China completely! And not just vassals.

Of course, for Hawaii, Li Guoan believes that there must be other arrangements in the country - immigration is the best choice, Hawaii is enough to live hundreds of thousands of Chinese immigrants, and eventually, immigrants will replace the indigenous people here, and at that time, this Hawaiian kingdom is not so much a kingdom under the imperial domain, but an overseas province of China!

King Kamehameha IV, who had traveled around the United States, Britain, and France with his brother Lott in the company of the missionary Dr. Judd, did not immediately oppose this suggestion of Li Guoan, and deep down, he was indeed full of curiosity about the Chinese empire in Asia.

"Maybe, you really should check it out!"

Not just your own son, maybe you should go there too!

"What does China look like?"

Li Guoan did not expect the psychological impact of his suggestion on the king, and for Sheng Haizhou, who was in Hawaii, when he first set foot on Hawaiian soil, it was not the "Chinatown" here that attracted him, nor the Chinese everywhere here, but the Americans who controlled Hawaii.

"In 1822, the Sitis arrived at Hawaiian port with 11 missionary couples, and in the decades that followed, they controlled Hawaii's politics and, in doing so, controlled most of the best lands, where they and their descendants built large families and gradually controlled the political and economic lifeblood of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi......

Referring to the current situation in Hawaii, Katsu Kaishu's tone seemed a little heavy, while Sakamoto Ryoma, who was beside him, looked a little excited.

"The world is really big, Your Excellency Major, Japan's territory is so narrow, but hundreds of thousands of immigrants can be housed here, if we can move the surplus population here like the Empire, then soon, this place may even become Japanese!"

As soon as Ryoma Sakamoto's words fell, Nagai beside him immediately reprimanded.

"Sakamoto, pay attention to your words, Japan is a vassal of the empire, and the vassal state of the country must be disciplined in the principle of affairs, how can you make such a wild statement, and besides, as for the overpopulation in the country, the empire has not agreed that our country will immigrate 6 million to the African colonies in the next 30 years, as a small country, you must not be arrogant, otherwise it is very likely to lead to the death of the country and the destruction of the ......"

Looking at the Westerners on the street, Nagai's brows were tightly locked.

"Hawaii, such a weak country, even you will have ambitions when you see it, let alone other big countries? You can think that when Westerners saw Japan, they didn't have similar thoughts! ”

Nagai's reminder made Ryoma Sakamoto and the others, who were still interested in Hawaii, stunned, and after a while, Ryoma Sakamoto hung his head as if he had discovered something.

"Even if there are no Westerners, isn't there still China, and we are now as big as North Korea, so what's the difference between it and Hawaii?"

How can there be no difference?

Nagai did not continue to refute Sakamoto Ryoma, he hoped that in the next voyage, they would take the initiative to draw conclusions through observation, looking at the Chinese characters on the street, Nagai silently thought in his heart.

"Perhaps, after this voyage, they will realize the benefits of being a vassal!"

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