After receiving a telegram from China, Shi Yezhi, the imperial minister to the United States, wondered a little, when did His Majesty suddenly pay attention to Hawaii, a small indigenous country in the Pacific?

Although the telegram did not explicitly say that it was to obtain a forward position, the meaning was very obvious, that is, if it was impossible to annex this small Pacific country, it was better to occupy an island or port.

What's in it for the empire?

Was it just to allow the Empire's merchant ships to get a stopover for the Americas?

Although Shi Yezhi, as a senior diplomat of the empire, has far more insight in all aspects than ordinary officials in China, he could not imagine how international relations would develop decades later in the 20th century, and the United States would become the largest power in the Pacific.

It's hard to imagine how important Hawaii's strategic position will be in the future!

However, wondering and incomprehensible, not understanding does not mean that he will not carry out Lin Zhe's instructions, no matter why His Majesty the Emperor is so concerned about Hawaii, all he has to do is to take Hawaii down!

As for why he wanted to take Hawaii, that was something that His Majesty the Emperor needed to consider, and as a courtier, what he had to do was to take down Hawaii, and why he wanted to take it down was not something he needed to consider.

Moreover, this time the directive was not sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which gave him instructions to safeguard the interests of the empire in the Pacific region, and there were no clear requirements.

However, the telegram from Lin Zhe clearly demanded that all or part of Hawaii be obtained!

If he can do this, then it is not difficult for Shi Yezhi to imagine that he will be valued by His Majesty, and it is just around the corner to become a diplomatic star like Li Bocang in the future.

Among the many diplomats of the Empire. There were not many diplomats who could make a name for themselves in the imperial political arena, and in his early years, he was in charge of negotiating with Britain and France. Song Guanqian, who signed the Treaty of Shanghai in 1858, is now the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire.

After Song Guanqian. Han Kyung-sheng, a former minister to the UK and the current co-secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who has actually been in charge of handling British and French foreign affairs for many years.

However, these two men, one of whom is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the other is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, can now be said to have left the category of ordinary diplomats and stepped into the ranks of the core elites of the empire, unlike the career diplomats who are active in the empire around the world today.

Maybe Song Guanqian and Han Qingsheng are the yearning of those officials, but these two people are different from most diplomats in the colonial era.

What was a diplomat in the colonial era? For the empire to expand its territory, send troops to sweep backward countries at the first order, and force the other side to sign one unequal treaty after another!

They are stationed in the country. It's like a colonial governor!

There are many such people in other countries, and there are few such imposing diplomats in the short history of the Chinese Empire.

The most famous of them is Li Bocang, the Imperial Minister to Japan!

This Li Bocang is a special case among the many diplomats of the empire, and no diplomat of that empire has ever been so deeply involved in the politics of the local country.

When other diplomats in the empire are basically engaged in ordinary foreign affairs, especially some diplomats stationed in Europe, they have nothing to do on weekdays, and most of the time they are engaged in delivering news, or participating in drinking parties and bragging.

However, Li Bocang was different, as the imperial plenipotentiary minister in Japan, he single-handedly provoked the Japanese civil war. He then presided over a war against the Satsuma Domain, and had already acquired three concessions for the Japanese Empire, including Ezo, Satsuma, and Edo.

At the same time, an agreement was signed with the Tokugawa shogunate regarding the Ryukyu Kingdom, and the shogunate recognized the suzerainty of the Chinese Empire over the Ryukyu Kingdom.

No diplomat of that empire has ever won such huge benefits for the empire, and no Chinese has ever been able to be like Li Bocang. Every move in Japan can have a profound impact on the trend of the situation in Japan.

And what could be more exciting for a career diplomat than to say a few words to determine the survival of a country!

After the Sino-Anglo-Saxon War. Li Bocang, who had obtained many concessions for the empire and signed a number of treaties with Japan, was awarded the title of baron in one fell swoop. Although this is only the lowest baron, how many nobles are there in the empire? There are only more than 130 people when they are full. The lowest baron was already a coveted title for countless generals and officials.

However, Li Bocang stepped into the ranks of the imperial aristocracy by virtue of his diplomatic exploits in Japan, becoming one of the only more than 130 nobles in the empire.

It can be said that the current Li Bocang is the idol of many diplomats in the empire, especially those diplomats stationed abroad, who doesn't think that he can seek huge benefits for the empire like Li Bocang, and then get knighthoods and become nobles who others envy and hate!

Shi Yezhi naturally hoped to be able to break into a great name like Li Bocang, but it was a pity that he came to the United States to serve as minister to the United States too late.

In the early years, he was not the imperial minister to the United States, Shi Yezhi was only appointed as the minister to the United States in 1864, that is, in the second half of last year, when the American Civil War had already entered the end, and there was no foreign affairs to deal with at all.

After the end of the civil war in the United States in 1865, he became even less present as a minister to the United States, and at most dealt with trivial things such as commerce.

However, now, the Yuxiang incident that broke out in Hawaii gave him an opportunity, a chance for him to get promoted, and even a noble title!

Going through the dynasties several times, what merit is most important for a courtier? In general, there are only two things, namely the merit of supporting the establishment and the expansion of the territory.

Why did the founding heroes of all dynasties get such high titles? for they have taken possession of both.

And for the current empire, it is definitely impossible to support the merit, if you want to get the merit of support, you have to wait at least a few decades after Lin Zhe died, but the new emperor ascended the throne to have this possibility, but as a person who is nearly fifty years old, he Shi Yezhi is estimated to have been dead for many years at that time.

Basically, if nothing else, most of the senior officials in the empire today have no hope of waiting for the day when a new emperor will ascend the throne.

Because Lin Zhe is still very young!

Lin Zhe, who was born in 1830, is only thirty-five years old this year, and the middle and high-level dignitaries in the empire, regardless of the military and political affairs, are basically people in their forties and fifties, and there are relatively few between the ages of thirty and forty.

If nothing else, most of the military and political dignitaries will die in front of Lin Zhe now!

Therefore, don't win a favor to get to the top of the house.

If you want to be promoted and make a fortune, well, the most important thing is to get a knighthood, and the most reliable thing is to expand the territory!

Many people may think that the expansion of the territory must require a large-scale war, and then make merit in the war, but this is for ordinary officials and most military generals, and for diplomats, especially those sent to foreign countries, they can take advantage of various conditions to achieve such achievements.

The most obvious example is Li Bocang!

If he Shi Yezhi dedicates Hawaii as a gift to His Majesty the Emperor, well, although this is an archipelago that hangs alone overseas and seems to be of little use at present, no one can deny that this is an expansion of territory!

Every time he thinks of this, Shi Yezhi can't wait for the boat under his feet to run faster, so that he can reach Hawaii as soon as possible! (To be continued.) )