What happened on Taiping Island immediately caused an uproar. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The Japanese on Taiping Island were organized by merchants, not by the government, and Taiping Island has never been Japanese territory, and the Japanese mining the phosphate ore on it is tantamount to "illegal mining".

Now that they have risen to the moral height, the Japanese originally had little confidence to make a fuss.

But because it was Lanfang people who came out to defend their rights, the Japanese had something to say.

That's right, the ownership of Taiping Island does not belong to Japan, but it does not belong to Lanfang, Taiping Island belongs to the Republic of China, since the government of the Republic of China has not made a sound, why did the Lanfang government drive away Japanese businessmen?

The Lanfang government presented a certificate that clearly stated that the Beiyang government of the Republic of China entrusted the management of Nanhai Zhudao to Lanfang.

Immediately, public opinion was in an uproar, especially in the southern military government, and a group of people jumped up and down, expressing their disapproval of this "letter of appointment", and at the same time once again reaffirming their determination to attack the Beiyang government and unify the Republic of China.

And this time, the direction of public opinion is not quite the same as it was a few months ago.

"Daily News" has been published for half a year, and it has indeed achieved remarkable results, and the most obvious aspect is the perception of Lanfang in the Republic of China.

Especially in recent years, articles on the reversal of the case for the Foreign Legion have frequently appeared in the newspapers, and articles reflecting on the "truth of the movement" have also begun to appear some time ago, and many people have begun to rethink whether signing the "Verdun Treaty" is helpless patriotism or outright betrayal.

Of course, this kind of reflection is limited to the areas controlled by the Beiyang government, and in the areas controlled by the southern military government, the voices of "anti-Lanfang" and "anti-Foreign Legion" are still the mainstream.

As a result, although the southern military junta has not yet attacked the Beiyang government, the media circles are already holding their own opinions, and the saber is rattling.

The media in the areas controlled by the southern military junta have clung to the Beiyang government's "loss of power and humiliation of the country" and expressed their opposition to the Beiyang government's blatant betrayal of national territory. Lan Fang has now established itself as a country, and the Beiyang government's "transfer" of the management of Nanhai Zhudao to Lan Fang is a betrayal of national sovereignty.

The media in the Beiyang government-controlled area, dominated by the Mainichi Shimbun, openly satirized that KMT's refusal of Lanfang to set foot in the South China Sea was "rather with foreigners than with domestic slaves". KMT knows that the government of the Republic of China is unable to safeguard the sovereignty of the South China Sea, and would rather let the Japanese steal the resources on the islands than let Lan Fang defend their rights, how serious the servility is.

Well, since the fall of the Qing Empire, the word "servile" has been so lethal that the Southern junta seems to have fallen behind in this debate.

However, the reason why shameless people are shameless is because the moral standard in their hearts has seriously deviated, and they do not think that their behavior is shameless at all, but take it for granted.

Lan Fang had no interest in fighting a lawsuit with the Southern Military Government, and from Taiping Island, Lan Fang's warships were like seeding machines, and began to shuttle frequently to the Beihai Islands, sending teams of marines to the Beihai Islands to serve as island defense troops and begin to actually occupy the Beihai Islands.

In fact, he didn't send a few people, even if it was the largest Lin Island, that is, the famous Yongxing Island, Lan Fang only sent a platoon to set up a wireless telegraph station on it, which was used to communicate with Lan Fang in China, as for the smaller islands such as Xiyue Island and Nanwei Island, Lan Fang only sent less than a squad, which was only a symbolic island defense force.

Don't look at just a few people, it's enough to show sovereignty.

At present, there are only five countries in the North Sea, namely Lanfang, the Republic of China, French Indochina, the American Philippines, and British Malaya.

France and Lanfang are allies, and the Republic of China is powerless to intervene, and the Americans and the British want to reach out but have no legal basis, so they can only express their concern in a stupid manner.

As an extraterritorial country, Japan has shown extraordinary enthusiasm for the South China Sea, and it is said that so-called "experts" in Japan have begun to search for relevant documents to find evidence that Japan and the North Sea are also related.

Well, this is doomed to be in vain, the Japanese have nothing to do with the North Sea, Japanese men went to sea in history in order to be pirates in the Yellow Sea, and Japanese women went to sea in order to find Chinese mates, the Yellow Sea alone has been able to meet the needs of the Japanese, and the tentacles of the Japanese have never reached the North Sea.

In fact, until the existence of oil and gas resources in the North Sea was proven, there was no problem with the dispute over the ownership of the North Sea, and the countries in the relevant sea area may feel disgusted by Lan Fang's large-scale discharge of troops to defend the island, but they do not feel the pain.

This time and space is different from another time and space, there is no oil production equipment in the North Sea now, and the relevant countries have not carried out resource exploration in the North Sea, so except for Qin Zhiyuan, no one knows what is on the bottom of the North Sea.

Of course, unless Lan Fang carries out large-scale development of the North Sea, no one will know the secrets of the North Sea seabed, because these islands, including the nearby waters, now belong to Lan Fang, and other countries are not qualified to carry out exploration work in these places except Lan Fang.

The occupation of these islands also has other special effects, especially on larger islands such as Lin Island and Taiping Island, on which airports can actually be built, which is equivalent to unsinkable aircraft carriers, which directly pushed Lanfang's national border to the north by more than 1,000 kilometers, and Wanghaizhou, the largest area in Lanfang, has actually become an inland island, which greatly reduces the defensive pressure.

While controlling the islands of the South China Sea, Qin Zhiyuan did not give up his strategy against French Indochina.

In early July, Qin Zhiyuan went to Saigon and signed a contract with Bastian for the lease of Cam Ranh Bay.

Cam Ranh Bay, located in the southeast of Annam, the harbor is 17 kilometers inland, by the two peninsulas together into a gourd-shaped inner and outer two bays, the inner harbor of Cam Ranh, an area of 60 square kilometers, the mouth of the bay is only 1300 meters wide, the outer harbor is Pingba, the water depth is 10-22 meters, the width of the bay is about 4000 meters, and the water depth outside the mouth is more than 30 meters.

Cam Ranh Bay has enough depth to moor battleships and aircraft carriers, and it is arguably one of the best deep-water ports in the world.

At the same time, the location of Cam Ranh Bay is of great strategic value as it is an important waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.

Of course, the French are not unaware of the value of Cam Ranh Bay, but for the French, Cam Ranh Bay does not have much development value, because the home port of the French Far East Fleet is not Cam Ranh Bay, but Guangzhou Bay of the Republic of China, which will be Zhanjiang City in the future.

Compared with the French, the Republic of China, which has not yet been reduced to a colony, obviously has a greater strategic value.

In Qin Zhiyuan's eyes, Cam Ranh Bay, with good hydrological conditions, is the cradle of the Lanfang Navy.

Therefore, on the issue of leasing Cam Ranh Bay, Qin Zhiyuan and Bastian hit it off.

After the signing of the agreement, Lan Fang will lease Cam Ranh Bay for 99 years at a price of 1 million francs per year, after which the agreement will be automatically extended if Lan Fang is willing to continue the loan.

In other words, Lan Fang obtained the permanent right to use Cam Ranh Bay at a cost of 1 million francs per year.

Of course, this agreement is not limited to Cam Ranh Bay, but also includes about 100 square kilometers of land near Cam Ranh Bay, and the French colonial government will be responsible for the relocation of Annam people in the concession.

"Concession", Lan Fang actually has her first overseas concession, which makes Lan Fang look more and more like a member of the great powers, although this "great power" does not seem to be so deserved.

After leasing Cam Ranh Bay, Qin Zhiyuan immediately recruited workers in Annam and Siam, and the first batch of workers was 100,000 people, and immediately began the formal development of Cam Ranh Bay.

100,000 people, that's a lot of money, but Bastian is clearly not interested.

"If you want workers, you don't need to go to Siam at all, Annam can satisfy you, even if you want to find 1 million people, it's no problem, if you feel that you don't have enough influence, there are Khmer and Laotian people, why go to Siam to recruit workers." Bastian went straight.

The relationship between Bastian and Qin Zhiyuan is also very good, the two are both "colleagues" and partners, so Bastian does not see Qin Zhiyuan.

Siam was the future Thailand, Khmer was Cambodia, and Laos was Laos. In present-day Southeast Asia, the Khmer, Laos, and Annam form French Indochina, and a little west, Burma is a province of British India, and Siam is sandwiched between British India and French Indochina, becoming a buffer zone between the two places.

It is precisely because of the compromise between the French and the British that Siam has become independent to this day, otherwise it would be a fool's dream for the King of Siam to sit on the throne.

The current French Indochina has a total population of about 15 million, and although it is a bit difficult to get 1 million workers, it is not impossible.

"Can I eat Siamese rice?" Qin Zhiyuan was half joking and half serious.

When he said this, Qin Zhiyuan and Bastian were in the Governor's Mansion of French Indochina in Hanoi, and Bastian did not mean to treat Qin Zhiyuan as an outsider, because perhaps in the near future, Qin Zhiyuan would also be the master here.

Siam is the granary of Southeast Asia, and the output of rice is amazing, Qin Zhiyuan said that he wanted to eat Siam's rice, of course, it was a joke, but Bastian took it seriously.

"You don't want to mess around, Siam's current status is quite special, and the French government doesn't want to change the status quo." Bastian has a certain degree of political acumen, and with his understanding of Qin Zhiyuan, he can faintly feel that Qin Zhiyuan has bad intentions.

The current colonial system was established by the French and the British, and although the relationship between Bastian and Qin Zhiyuan was good, there was no discussion at all on the issue of national interests, which Bastian was clear.

"You think too much, I have no intention of changing the status quo, Siam is Siam, where will it not become a colony of Lan Fang, we Chinese do not have that habit." Qin Zhiyuan flatly denied it.

Well, Qin Zhiyuan's words are not finished, the Chinese really don't like colonies, because as long as the land that the Chinese fancy will become their own "inherent territory", there has never been such a thing as a colony.

(To be continued.) )