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Today's "77" chapter is a 4,000-character chapter to remember the martyrs and hope that China will become a true Asian hegemon at an early date

The Spanish troops in Cuba surrendered to China, Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army occupied Cuba, and the Americans could not sit still. McKinley, the 25th president of the United States of America, who has always advocated colonial expansion, submitted a war address to Congress, asking the US Congress to immediately approve the president's use of armed force against Spain to seize Puerto Rico and other Spanish colonies.

On that day, Republican-born President McKinley wore a black tuxedo with a white shirt and tie to address Capitol Hill in Washington. McKinley, who was short and stocky and Napoleon-like, was questioned by the congressmen in an almost trembling voice, and he roared loudly at the Democratic congressmen in the audience who opposed the war: "Gentlemen, China has occupied Cuba, and you are still shouting in Congress!" The isolationism of the Cleveland presidency is outdated! I would now like to solemnly remind you that Napoleon said that China is a sleeping lion. I find that it has woken up, and if you noble Democratic congressmen do not wake up and stubbornly insist on partisanship, the United States will lose the whole of America, lose the whole world! It's time for us to unite and carry forward the Monroe Doctrine of our founding fathers! ”

At the beginning of the founding of the United States in 1783, it pursued the "Monroe Doctrine", that is, the whole of America as the sphere of influence of the United States, and constantly intervened militarily in American affairs! In the long years of 190 years, the United States has supported the Duvalier family of Haiti, the Somocha family of Nicaragua, and the Pinochet government of Chile in the Americas, directly intervened in Mexico, Nicaragua, Grenada, Panama and other countries, and used mercenaries and proxies to subvert governments that do not meet the interests of the United States, and constantly expand the territory of the United States.

The largest of these expansions was the disputed border between the newly established Republic of Texas and Mexico after the Texas Revolution of 1836. Mexico did not recognize the independence of Texas and declared that it would reintegrate Texas into its territory. He also warned that if the United States intervened, war would break out between the two countries. It was the struggle for strength that led the Americans to ignore the Mexican threat, and in 1845, the United States announced that Texas would join the United States as the 28th state of the United States. Thereupon. 1846-1848. A war broke out between the United States and Mexico. The United States seized 2.3 million square kilometers of Mexico through war. Leaping to become a great power across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, rare in the world, Mexico lost its land and lost its troops, and its vitality was greatly damaged. Since then, the United States has gained the supremacy of the Americas.

By the way, the logic of Americans' colonial expansion is different from that of the European powers, "Americans are God's chosen people and have the obligation to promote freedom and natural human rights for the whole world", so "expanding the territory of the United States" is God's manifest destiny. From the moment the Mayflower arrived on the American continent, the Americans considered them "God's special chosen people", and Americans saw Europe as the Old World. Seeing the Americas as the New World, they believed that "the Americans were an extraordinarily good and great people; They represent above all the beliefs of individualism and liberalism; their myths and states based on the idea of a grand liberalism; It sets an example worthy of export to the rest of the world".

Most Americans like to emphasize the advantages of liberal institutions and morality, believing that the American tradition of democracy and freedom and political system can always represent the direction of civilization and progress, and can become a universal norm for international relations. Until today in the twenty-first century. There has been no essential change in the expansionist thinking of the Americans, and the content of "human rights" has been added. However, just as the contemporary American political scientist Huntington said in "The Clash of Civilizations": "Human beings can have order without freedom, but they cannot have freedom without order", and the division of the Iraqi people and the suffering of the Ukrainian people in turmoil today are enough to show this: democracy and freedom, if there is no order, will bring turmoil to the country.

To get back to the point, by 1893, when the US railroad investment bubble burst, triggering an economic crisis, Cleveland, the 24th president of the United States who was born from the Democratic Party, concentrated on economic development, practiced isolationism in foreign policy, tried to keep a distance from the disputes of the outside world, did not intervene in the disputes of other countries, and especially did not want to "intertwine the fate of the United States with the fate of any part of Europe." This caused great dissatisfaction among Republicans.

In 1897, McKinley, a Republican who retired with the rank of major and advocated foreign expansionism, was elected president, and he was eager to re-divide the world's colonies, but it was not until 1890 that the United States ranked 11th in naval power in the world, when China's Beiyang Fleet ranked sixth in the world. It was not until 1896 that the United States began to expand its navy, and its strength was limited, and it was not yet able to compete with Britain, France, and other powers, and it was only aimed at the aging empire of Spain.

The American warship "Oregon" even set off from the Pitget Strait, bypassing South America to reach the Caribbean. The "Oregon" completed a 15,000-nautical mile voyage in 66 days at an average speed of about 12 knots, and the strength of the Atlantic Detachment was increased to five battleships: "Iowa", "Indiana", "Massachusetts", "Texas", and "Oregon".

However, President McKinley did not expect that President Song Xiaofei had the foresight to bypass the Chinese Congress and decisively take military action against Spain, preemptively occupying Cuba and the Philippines. McKinley spoke everywhere at this time, calling for war against Spain as soon as possible, but many Democratic congressmen opposed the war. Kate stood up and said to McKinley, "Mr. President, why should we send troops?" Spain is a European power, and once the United States and Spain go to war, what will European countries think of us? California, Florida and other East Coasts of the United States will be bombarded and invaded, and the investment bonds of Boston financiers will no longer be safe! ”

President McKinley replied angrily: "The battleship 'Maine,' which we were sent to Cuba to protect the lives and property of the Americans, was split in two with a loud bang, and 260 crew members died. ”

Henry. Kate didn't show weakness and shrugged rudely. He said to McKinley: "Mr. President, I have to remind you that the bombing of the warship is still under investigation, and there is not enough evidence to prove that it was done by the Spaniards. The Spaniards also have no reason to offend us, the United States. Those brutal rebels in Cuba. It's enough to make them tired. And. Recent polls show that people just want to get out of the economic crisis. and did not agree with the U.S. government's foreign wars. ”

McKinley raised his fist and said, "Congressman Kate, to be honest, the explosion of the 'Maine' was not caused by the Spaniards. It doesn't matter at all. It is important that in order to achieve a position on an equal footing with the European powers, the United States must acquire naval bases overseas, build a strong navy, and open up markets overseas to expand the commercial fleet, in this regard. China is already ahead of the curve of the United States! A war with Spain, as even a fool can see, is in the interests of the American people. ”

President McKinley's expansive views were eventually given by Theodore. Roosevelt, Henry. Lodge and other senators supported it. A week later, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution. Approve the President's use of armed forces. Under the pretext that the warship "Maine", which was sent to Cuba to protect overseas Chinese, exploded in the port of Havana, the capital of Cuba, McKinley appointed Theodore Murphy. Roosevelt was the commander of the navy, commanding 3,000 U.S. troops to land in Puerto Rico to establish a military base, and then increased 10,000 troops to besiege San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, in four directions, after skirmishing and paying the price of 50 casualties, the U.S. military captured the entire island of Puerto Rico, and then, sent warships to capture the Spanish colonial islands in the West Indies.

The two nascent republics, the United States and China, went to war against Spain at the same time, and the Spanish army was crushed in the Americas and Asia. Song Xiaofei saw that the Americans had also made a move, so he quickly sent the Beiyang Fleet to occupy the Mariana Islands. In order to prevent the Chinese occupation of Hawaii, the U.S. Congress also quickly passed a resolution to incorporate Hawaii into the United States.

Considering that Cuba was too far away from China and that there were still a large number of rebel troops, Song Xiaofei sent Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang to negotiate with the United States and sell Cuba to the United States for $500 million. Wu Tingfang felt that the bid was too high, and said: "The United States only spent $7.2 million to buy the whole of Alaska from the Russians, and we want to pay $500 million, will the price be too high?" ”

Song Xiaofei laughed and said: "I heard Speaker Rong Hong say that American businessmen own a large number of sugar cane plantations and sugar factories in Cuba, and the profits of these large plantations and sugar factories cannot be ignored, with an investment of 50 million US dollars and an annual trade volume of up to 100 million US dollars, this money has been earned back in ten years. Moreover, Cuba is only 217 kilometers north of the tip of the Florida Peninsula in the United States, and it is a strategic base for the expansion of the United States into South America, which is a good deal and will be of interest to Americans. ”

After Wu Tingfang went to the Americans to make representations, the US Government was really interested in Cuba. In August 1898, China and the United States negotiated with the Spanish government as victors, and after some bargaining, the three countries signed the Treaty of Paris to redivide the colonies. The contract stipulates: "Article 1: Spain renounces all claims and rights to Cuba sovereignty and transfer them to China, and Spain cedes the Philippine Islands and the Mariana Islands to China. Article 2: Spain ceded the island of Puerto Rico under its jurisdiction to the United States, and the United States paid $20 million. Article 3: The United States pays China $500 million to take over Cuba and promulgates laws to protect the rights and interests of Chinese workers, so that Chinese workers will become free people like Americans. ”

After paying the Chinese government $500 million, the US government carried out a military occupation of Cuba, which aroused strong resistance from the Cuban rebels, and in the following three years, the US military carried out a brutal military suppression of the Cuban rebel people, slaughtering tens of thousands of people, which also made Song Xiaofei strongly aware that although the freedom and human rights mentioned by the Americans are universal values, they sometimes become a cover for the Americans to invade other countries and expand. Freedom and democracy in China must also be realized step by step.

Through this war with the Spaniards, China won a complete victory, 40,000 Chinese laborers in Cuba were transformed from "piglets" into free men protected by law, China occupied the Philippine Islands and the Mariana Islands, including Guam, received $400 million from the US government, and repaid about $120 million to the Bank of England, leaving $380 million. Song Xiaofei used 80 million US dollars to compensate the soldiers of the Black Flag Army who were killed and wounded, and set up a 1,000-meter-long and 10-meter-high people's heroes memorial wall on the east side of the Forbidden City, announcing that in the future, every soldier who sacrificed his life for the country, no matter what level he was, no matter what party he was, no matter where he died, would engrave their names on the people's heroes memorial wall and regard them as national heroes. It is also open to the public on weekdays and is open to all citizens.

Of the other $300 million, Song Xiaofei allocated $100 million to the Ministry of Defense Industry to research and develop new tanks and warships, as well as airships, another $100 million was allocated to the Ministry of Finance to develop education and medical services, and $100 million was allocated to the newly established Ministry of Science and Technology to research and develop various new products. By 1899, near the end of Song Xiaofei's first presidential term, China had achieved compulsory primary education for all. China's economy also grew rapidly, and by the end of 1899, China's fiscal revenue reached $400 million, making it the fourth largest economic power in the world, after Britain, the United States, and Germany. In the military aspect, the most noteworthy is that the German Diesel developed a practical diesel-powered compression-ignition engine in 1892, which has high torque, strong horsepower, low fuel consumption, and can use inferior fuel, showing brilliant development prospects, Diesel immediately put into the business adventure of diesel engine production, unfortunately, Diesel lacked business acumen, he gradually fell into financial difficulties, the diesel engine factory went bankrupt, Xi Muyan followed Song Xiaofei's instructions, After buying Diesel's diesel engine factory for half a million dollars, and then transferring technology and equipment to the Ministry of Defense Industry, China began to develop 10,000-ton warships powered by diesel-powered compression-ignition engines, as well as new heavy tanks.

At this time, China's military and economic strength has greatly increased, and it has become the hegemon of Asia. Song Xiaofei is waiting for an opportunity and is ready to make a move on the Russians, the declining empire that annexed nearly 1.5 million square meters of China's territory, at this time it is still in the terror of Nicholas II, unaware of the impending danger, Tsar Nicholas II is arrogant, and even has a "sweet dream" of expanding the Far East!