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Port of Naha in the Ryukyus

Li Hongzhang, who was promoted to the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty during the negotiations with Japan, was now dressed in a Zhengyipin official uniform and inspected the expansion of Naha Port accompanied by King Shotai of the Ryukyus. At this moment, the port of Naha is crowded with people, and a full of 30,000 laborers are expanding the port of more than ten square kilometers. Don't look at the large number of people, but in the era of lack of machinery and pure manpower, the efficiency is really not high if there are fewer people. Even so, 30,000 people started work at the same time, but months have passed, and the dredging work at the port has not yet been completed, and it seems that the expansion of the port of Naha will definitely be delayed. Not to mention the phosphate mine factory that the emperor wanted to establish on Chongdadong Island, where even the workers were not opened.

"Lord Wang, can't you recruit anyone?". Li Hongzhang asked Shang Tai with a frown. In fact, Li Hongzhang also understands that this should be the limit of Ryukyu. Still, he asked with hope in mind.

The first thing Shotai did after returning to the Ryukyus after returning from house arrest in Japan was to cancel the name of the seven days of the Japanese and restore the name of the island that had been passed down since ancient times. The Japanese who had already emigrated to the Ryukyus were immediately expelled. The departure of the Japanese naturally completed the most crucial step of de-Japanization, but when nearly 200,000 Japanese left one after another, it also caused a sudden decrease in the labor force in the Ryukyus, and Guangxu's naval expansion plan was forced to stop in the Ryukyus because there was not enough labor. Although Shang Tai also asked the Qing to immigrate to the Ryukyus to make up for the shortage of labor after the Japanese left, and to sell the land and houses originally occupied by the Japanese to the new Qing people at a low price. However, the Qing Dynasty's own industrial construction also urgently needed a lot of manpower, and the Chinese who loved the land were not willing to leave their land. As long as they can get food and clothing on their own land, they are already very content.

Even if people were forcibly brought in from the country immediately, there would be no way to fill such a large labor gap. The idea of expelling all the Japanese from the Ryukyus for the sake of de-Japanization is too stinky, Guangxu regrets it, he should leave the Japanese as slaves and do coolies for a few years before driving them away!

For a huge labor gap. Li Hongzhang is also helpless. The more than 10,000 Chinese laborers in the Ryukyus, plus the 20,000 locals recruited, do not seem to have any more manpower.

Regarding Li Hongzhang's question, Shang Tai could only answer with his head.

The expulsion of the Japanese as soon as he returned to Japan was the intention of the Emperor of the Upper Kingdom. Second, it can also relieve the suffering of being imprisoned by Japan for ten years. Third, during Japan's 10-year colonial career in the Ryukyus, he forcibly seized the land and interests that belonged to the local people of the Ryukyus, and after the expulsion of the Japanese, the wealth left by the Japanese could be distributed to the locals, so that he could regain support for regaining support for re-ruling the country after ten years. Ten years of captivity has made this 60-year-old man see through that the small country of Ryukyu has no ability to protect itself, and if it wants to keep peace, it can only rely on a large country. Japan's 10-year rule was brutal in its exploitation of the Ryukyus. On the other hand, the Qing Dynasty is on the other hand. The Ryukyus, which had been subjugated to China for thousands of years, not only did not suffer from the oppression of the suzerain, but on the contrary, no matter which dynasty or generation the kingdom was, they had a lot of rewards for the Ryukyus. And the Ryukyuan people also speak Chinese and wear Hanfu. Perform Han salutes. In fact, the Ryukyuan people have long claimed to be Chinese. As a childless king, in the last years of his life. It is satisfying to be able to fight for the interests of the Ryukyuan people who have always supported them.

So when the Emperor of the Qing Kingdom decreed the expansion of Naha Port. He knew that manpower would run out. So he took the initiative to ask for immigration to the country, but no one in the Qing Dynasty wanted to come. Although the Ryukyus manpower could no longer be improved, he soon had a suggestion: "Didn't Shangguo capture tens of thousands of Japanese prisoners of war in the war against Japan and organize them into a construction corps?" It would be better to call it back to alleviate the current situation where no one is available. ”

Shangtai's idea Li Hongzhang did not have any thoughts: "The construction of Huludao, Lushun and Dalian is not yet complete, and the Northeast Railway has also slowed down due to lack of manpower. There is really no one to recruit here, and the delay of the project is not the fault of the prince. It was really a helpless move, and after returning to Beijing, the official explained the truth to the emperor. ”

"Xiao Wang thanked Lord Zhongtang."

After a routine inspection, in the unfinished Shuri Castle, Shangtai held a farewell dinner for Li Hongzhang. Because when it goes dark. Li Hongzhang was about to board the battleship Longyin and stay at Keelung, Taiwan, for an inspection site.

At the farewell dinner, not only representatives and elders of the Ryukyu islands, but also some local Chinese families were invited. In a relaxed atmosphere, Li Hongzhang tasted the unique cuisine of the Ryukyus and had a cordial conversation with the people attending the dinner. At the dinner, Shang Tai inadvertently mentioned the slave trade in the Nanyang area, but Li Hongzhang remembered it.

Li Hongzhang, who returned to the warship, began to think about some questions that he had not been able to figure out. Four 20,000-ton docks were built in Huludao, two 20,000-ton docks were built in Naha and two 30,000-ton docks were reserved for the future, as well as Lushun, Keelung, and Weihai...... A total of 300,000 tons of shipbuilding capacity. With so many dockyards, are there so many warships to build? Even if there were, the Great Qing Kingdom didn't have so much steel available? Don't have that much money? Li Hongzhang made many ideas along the way, but he could overturn each idea on the grounds of lack of money.

In fact, how can there be so many possibilities, Guangxu's idea is actually very simple - to cheat money. Huludao is prepared for the new warships in Guangxu's heart, and the expansion of Lushun is only to provide a base for the maintenance of the fleet, and the huge construction work in other places is actually not prepared by the treasury to allocate sufficient money, and the reason why it is necessary to do this is to provide a base for the fleet to dock, and the most important thing is to let the people know that the imperial court will vigorously develop the navy and build a large number of warships. In this way, it will be possible to attract private capital into the steel industry and allow the imperial court to reduce its initial investment in the navy's supporting industries. If everything depends on the imperial court's money to introduce equipment to set up a factory, the imperial court with only 80 million taels of silver per year will still be a fart. Besides, who said that after the dock is built, it is necessary to build warships, and cargo ships can also be built. The purpose of building cargo ships is to train skilled workers for the construction of warships in the future.

For Li Hongzhang, it is still necessary to do things whether they can figure it out or not. Starting from Huludao, when he boarded the battleship Longyin, the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, in Lushun, the tens of thousands of tons of hull, majestic sailors, and neat military fleet lined up made him see what a real fleet was, which was not comparable to his Beiyang naval division. In the Ryukyus, Li Hongzhang could have been the honor guard of the Son of Heaven, because he was a vassal of the Son of Heaven. But he didn't. It's just a guard of honor. Because he really can't fathom the emperor in front of him.

Beiyang was completely defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War, and it was all up to the emperor to turn the tide. Although he was dismissed from all his official positions after the war, he was suddenly promoted to the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty during the negotiations with Japan, and then his son-in-law Zhang Peilun became the governor of Taiwan. Some people say that the emperor is now actually in charge of the government, in order to balance the court situation, thinking that the queen mother's heart is calm, the reason why he Li Hongzhang became the prime minister is because he is the queen mother's person. And his son-in-law Zhang Peilun served as the governor of Taiwan, but the emperor wanted to appease Li Hongzhang's heart. Li Hongzhang just laughed at this statement, and he, the prime minister, is not the kind of prime minister who hangs high in everyone's mouth. It is the real exercise of the power of the prime minister. On the surface, he Li Hongzhang was not demoted because of the defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, but because he handed over the command of the Huai Army in Liaodong to the emperor, and won the emperor's favor. But Li Hongzhang understood in his heart that the emperor gave him a salary from the bottom of the kettle.

The reason why Li Hongzhang was able to sit in the local area and lead the imperial court before the First Sino-Japanese War was remote. It is because he has the Beiyang Naval Division of the First Fleet of the Qing Dynasty, and a Qingrui Huai Army loyal to him. First Sino-Japanese War. His own military power was wiped out in a war. But Li Hongzhang is not worried. Because he still has the territory of Zhili under his own power, now that he is still the prime minister of the empire, it is more convenient to act. As long as he is given another two or three years, he can develop his own army again. plus a son-in-law who is far away in Taiwan, and it can echo each other from afar. But at this moment, the emperor rejected the new candidate for governor of Zhili proposed by him. Instead, Zhang Zhidong, who has always been at odds with him, was appointed as a direct subordinate. In this way, Zhang Zhidong will definitely expel his own forces in Zhili. As long as there are two or three more years of effort, the Zhili that was once under his control will completely become his Zhang Nanpi's territory, and if he has lost his foundation, he still wants to have a place in the court. Then you can only follow the emperor.

And he Zhang Nanpi can't get any better. Zhang Zhidong, who originally wanted to form a self-strengthening army in Lianghu, was transferred to Zhili as the governor, and like him Li Hongzhang, he also lost his foundation. Even if he Zhang Zhidong wants to take Zhili into his pocket, how can Li Hongzhang, who is the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty, let Zhang Nanpi'an, who has always had a dislike with him, accept Zhili safely? In this way, whether he Li Hongzhang or Zhang Zhidong, if he wants to gain a foothold in the court, he can only rely on the emperor, and the emperor can use the mutual containment of the two of them to guide the country. This is the real way to check and balance the situation.

As for the Queen Mother, as long as the emperor has military power, the Queen Mother will not be able to turn the sky upside down. Moreover, the emperor quietly used the newly established Qing Bank to take the financial power of the entire country into his hands, and now he has pocketed the two rivers, which are the most taxed places by the imperial court. Even if the Queen Mother really turned the sky upside down, the most elite army of the Qing Dynasty had fought with the emperor's real guns and cannons, and the Queen Mother didn't even have the ability to deal with it, and the court without money couldn't do anything.

Twenty years of forbearance and twenty years of concession finally broke out in a war. The power and technique of the emperor's family were used by the emperor to the fullest. The emperor, who had been painting against the queen mother for 20 years, finally stood in a fight.

Thinking about it, thinking about it, thinking about it again, thinking about it again. Li Hongzhang sighed and began to do his last thing in the Ryukyus—summoning instructors sent by the Qing State to train troops for the Ryukyus. The precepts are just the same thing, nothing more than allegiance to the emperor, and the most important thing to do is to say more, and to respect the local customs.

As for Ryukyus, in order to show their determination to be loyal to the kingdom, they have not had an army for hundreds of years. And this time, the emperor of the Celestial Empire took the initiative to send people to train the Ryukyuan people's own army for the Ryukyus, which was enough to move the Ryukyuan people. The Great Qing Dynasty was not a conqueror and ruler like Japan, and the Qing ** team that defeated the Ryukyus was supposed to withdraw to Weihai after Japan's surrender, but King Shangtai reluctantly left a regiment on the grounds that he was unable to maintain the place. The Emperor of the Kingdom of God said: The land of the Ryukyus should be guarded by the Ryukyus themselves. So instructors were sent to train the army for the Ryukyus. The young people who have performed well in the training will also go to the Daqing Military Academy to study.

At the time of the court discussion, many officials were still opposed to the training of the Ryukyus army, believing that if the Ryukyus had a large-scale army, they would be more useless if they turned against it. As soon as these words came out, Guangxu immediately reprimanded, if the Qing Dynasty itself is so strong that it is unshakable, who dares to oppose it. Guangxu passed the bill on the spot with the authority of the emperor. As the chief of staff, Wang Shizhen knew the emperor's deep meaning, because the emperor had told him in private, why should the blood on the battlefield innocently lose his own blood, and someone must do the work of cannon fodder.

However, the Ryukyuan people did not know Guangxu's true thoughts at all. The Ryukyuan people who are grateful to Dade have selected their best young people to join the army for training.

In the middle of the night, the Pacific Fleet sailed on the vast sea. By the time the sun rose the next day, they had already arrived in Keelung. Spending the night on a rocking boat, Li Hongzhang did not sleep well. But he was in a hurry, because he still had to go to Shanghai, to Jiangning, to Hanyang. This is what the emperor meant, and it is also his own meaning. He wanted to see with his own eyes the current situation of the factory, so as to provide the most accurate information for the emperor's future administration.

On the Keelung wharf, Zhang Peilun opened the greeting ceremony with great fanfare. Because he had to greet not only his father-in-law, but also the Qing Prime Minister who went out on patrol on behalf of the Son of Heaven with a local patrol.

Compared with Li Hongzhang, who is smiling, Li Enfu, who is far away in Hawaii, is frowning.

Since the construction of the radio transmission station on Guangxu Island, the emperor handed him a special code book. Then there was a secret telegram sent by the emperor himself, and the emperor was ready to attack Luzon and ask him to start planning for Guam and Saipan as soon as possible.

In fact, Guangxu was not willing to do this. The domestic political situation is unstable and the industry is blank, which should be a period of peace of mind in the country, the development of industry, and the laying of the foundation for the future. Three years later, in 1898, the United States, an industrial power that did not feel at ease and only dominated the Americas, declared war on Spain through the man-made "Maine Incident". Since then, the United States has fired the first shot of military expansion.

If the United States is allowed to occupy Luzon and want to recapture it, it must confront the powerful industrial capacity of the United States. Coupled with the fact that Americans are all of European descent, if the United States pulls the whole of Europe against the rising China by playing a white skin, there will be no play. However, if we watch the United States occupy Luzon, will it be true that the United States will lock China up on the mainland? So you can only start in advance, when the country is still a mess. First of all, take down the name of righteousness, and hope that the tributary idea of China that Luzon has inherited for thousands of years has not completely degenerated.

Where would Li Enfu know about these things, these places are still Spanish colonies, which were occupied by Spain when it was strong. Now, although Spain is no longer in its glory, the old matadors will not easily give up these places, and the only way to really seize and annex them is - war.

Your Majesty, please you, you haven't even cleaned up your country now, not to mention that Japan is brewing crazy revenge. At present, the most important thing to do is to stabilize the domestic political situation, develop basic industries, and prepare to deal with Japan, rather than challenging the West. At this moment, you want to guide the sword to the ocean, are you really not afraid of a fire in the backyard, so that all your efforts will be in vain. You're betting on the future of China.

In the perennially hot Hawaii, Li Enfu couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He thought it was necessary for him to return to China to talk to the emperor once. (To be continued......)