At the end of May 1882, good things happened

The first Red River Valley Cup World Architectural Designer Grand Prix came to a successful conclusion, and Red River Valley University recruited world-class experts and professors to start building a world-class art department and architecture department, which greatly raised its eyebrows.

When the news of the victory in the Lucky Bay Interception Battle from the front line of Shangri-La Island broke, Queensland was filled with jubilation, and the mouthpieces of newspapers and periodicals, including the World Journal, published heroic deeds one after another, arousing the enthusiasm of the Chinese people to love their country and family.

This news also blinded the Dutch, and they took the initiative to send a request for peace talks, and the Governor's Office of the Channel of the British Empire came forward to mediate and put the place of peace talks in Singapore.

Wu Mozhou and Secretary General Fan Zhongzhai led a negotiating team, including Secretary Tang Shaoyi, to Singapore to participate in the first-ever peace talks in the Red River Valley.

The annihilation of the Dutch stowaway fleet, and importantly, the elimination of the second and third most powerful ships of the Royal Task Force of the Dutch East Indies, caused its strength to plummet, and the Queensland Combined Fleet completely controlled the entire sea control of the region.

After the Moresby Marine Police District received four new warships from the Red River Valley, He Fang led the main force to return to the port of Samarinda in Borneo, and sent warships to blockade the Madura Strait and the Surabaya Strait, completely blockading the Dutch fleet headed by the "Seven Provinces" in the port.

As a result, under the deliberate guidance of the Red River Valley, a large number of Chinese migrant ships have arrived at the port of Sammarinda, and large-scale migration has begun at a rate of 2~25,000 people per month.

The occupation army led by Wei Chi Shouzhuo divided into two routes, swept through everything and occupied the towns around Samarinda, uprooted the Dutch defenders one by one, and brought large areas of territory under his command, creating an established fact of occupation.

The Red River Valley sent a large number of key militias to the ports of Samarinda and Port Moresby, further consolidating their rule in the region.

In the Queensland Parliament general election at the end of May, the Zhi Gong Party unsurprisingly won a resounding victory, occupying more than 80% of the parliamentary seats.

Xin Changjun resigned as mayor of the Red River Valley and was replaced by Fan Ah Sang, and the Zhi Gong Party was also given the mayor of Brisbane, and was succeeded by He Shoutian, the confidant of Lord Earl.

As a result, the Zhi Gong Party took deeper control of Queensland, from the State Self-Government Office to all levels of municipal government, a large number of Chinese people entered various government departments, firmly grasping the government's public power and important core departments such as justice, immigration, industry and commerce, taxation and public security.

Early June

Singapore

Singapore is home to the Governor-General's House of the Straits and has jurisdiction over the important ports of Penang, Singapore, Malacca and Labuan, as well as the Federation of Malaya and the dependent states of Malaysia.

Let's talk about it

The Governor's House of the Straits was upgraded from a second-class colony in 1867 to a crown colony administered by the British Colonial Office, which means that its status has risen and its importance has increased.

Wu Mozhou led the Queensland negotiating team to the Raffles Hotel, which is not far from the Straits Governor's House, the Houses of Parliament, the City Hall and the Supreme Court, and adjacent to a neoclassical architectural Praise Square, where the peace talks took place.

The fact that the Straits Governor's Office acted as a mediator and chose Singapore as the venue for the negotiations shows that the British were skillful in their diplomatic skills, took into account the needs and identities of both sides, and contained a wealth of political wisdom.

The two negotiators, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies and the Earl of Queensland, are not dialogues between countries, so the peace talks need not be arranged too formally and not too high-profile.

For example, cities such as London and Paris are too high-profile, and it is not appropriate to choose any city in Australia or the Dutch East Indies, but it is very appropriate to choose the location of the Strait Governor's Palace such as Singapore, and the balance is just right.

The convener of the peace talks was Sir Davidson, the speaker of the British Channel Governor's House, who was prominent enough as a British nobleman, but had no real power under the command of a powerful governor, and was very suitable to accompany the two sides in the negotiation and play a tug-of-war.

The British, who had extensive experience in negotiating with the Dutch, knew that once these merchants were at the negotiating table, they would not be able to negotiate results in a short time.

Sure enough, under the auspices of Sir Davidson, Mr. Wenbeck, the Dutch negotiator, and Mr. Wu Mozhou, representing His Excellency the Earl of Queensland, broke down in just over 10 minutes after the first formal peace talks were held at Praise Square.

Both sides have been given the texts of their respective demands for the negotiations, and the demands of the two sides are far from each other, and the gap can be said to be so far apart that the peace talks cannot proceed at all.

After all, Li Fushou paid the price for his youth and lack of experience, and he happily organized a heavyweight negotiation delegation, but he was poured cold water on his head.

The Delegation of the Netherlands, headed by Weinbeck, requested;

First, the Earl of Queensland's invasion of Borneo's army forces immediately ceased its aggression and expansion, and returned to Samarinda within a month, and finally had to complete the withdrawal of troops from Borneo (including the army and navy) within three months, return the territory of Borneo to the Dutch in its entirety, and make a public apology and compensation for this......

2. The Earl of Queensland must pay compensation for the ships and personnel damaged in the war, and express sincere apologies, the exact amount of which is to be determined.

Third, on the issue of the future status of Irian Island, the Dutch side indicated that it could negotiate, but there was no doubt that the sovereignty of the island completely belonged to the Dutch side, and that the Dutch side, for the sake of maintaining bilateral relations, could demarcate a certain zone of special interest for the Queensland side, the specific scope of which to be agreed.

Fourthly, the Queensland side must immediately cease all military operations, the Navy must lift the military blockade of the Madura Strait and the Surabaya Strait, and the Army must cease all hostile military operations and accept the supervision of the delegation sent by the mediators of the peace talks.

Fifth, the Queensland side must immediately stop the migration to Borneo, take the initiative to eliminate the adverse effects of the large-scale migration, and make a formal public apology to the Dutch side.

Sixth, the Dutch side recognizes the special interests of the Queensland side in Irian Island (Shangri-La Island), but the Queensland side must immediately return the Jayapura area, which has sufficient evidence to prove that the area was pioneered by the Dutch colonizers, justice and justice must be served, the rights and interests of the victims must be safeguarded, and a public apology and compensation must be accepted.

Seven......

Eight......

Nine......

……

16. The Earl of Queensland must make a sincere public apology for the heavy loss of life and property of the Dutch side caused by the conflict, and promise to restrain his greedy desire for appropriation, and to carry out economic and trade exchanges peacefully in accordance with the virtues of the aristocracy, so as to bring lasting peace to the Dutch East Indies.

Wu Mozhou almost blew his lungs when he saw the other party's request for the negotiation text, but before he came, the earl told him to attach great importance to this peace negotiation, and he forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and handed the negotiation text to his deputy~ Mr. Fan Zhongzhai, the head of the secretariat.

Before Fan Zhongzhai could carefully read the negotiation text, the Dutch on the opposite side had already jumped up, and Mr. Wenbick's face turned red, and he shouted angrily waving the negotiation text of the Queensland side;

"Are you crazy? This unbelievable demand is the most shameless request I have ever seen since I entered politics, the face of the greedy aggressor is exposed, I can answer you now, not a single one of the demands on the negotiating text will be granted, you have chosen only disaster and destruction, and you must pay the price for the serious consequences of this......"

"Mr. Wenbeck, we would like to give you and the irrational Governor's Palace as it is, this is a negotiation that cannot be carried out."

"That's right, I declare that the negotiations have broken down."

"I agree with you."

"Hmph, you're going to pay a heavy price for it."

"The same words are sent to you as they are, and allow me to express my personal disappointment at the breakdown of the negotiations, which the peace-loving Queenslanders do not wish to see."

"You ...... Shameless. Wenbeck's face flushed with anger and he was extremely emotional.

"As much as I hate to repeat your words, it is a waste of our time to return the same words to you and to the shameless Doge's Mansion behind you." Wu Mozhou also showed great indignation, seeing Wenbeck leading a group of Dutch negotiators to walk away, he really felt that the negotiation was extremely difficult, far beyond imagination.

At this time, Sir Davidson walked in leisurely from outside, and when he saw the negotiating delegation led by Wu Mozhou, he was angry and said with a slight smile;

"Wu, don't you think today is a good start? At least both sides of your dispute have expressed their demands, both sides have the will for peace, and the rest is nothing more than tug-of-war negotiations, and we will spend a long time together in this beautiful city of Singapore, so I would like to invite you gentlemen to a private banquet at the estate, and we can talk about some happy things. ”

"Thank you, Sir Davidson, for which I am grateful, but we must first send back the text of the Dutch negotiations, and I respectfully ask the Earl to adjudicate it."

"OK, of course."

In the face of Davidson's calmness, Wu Mozhou deeply felt the immaturity of the negotiation delegation, which was reflected in all aspects, including the Earl's high expectations for the negotiations, to the excessive anger of every member of the negotiation delegation......

Wenbeck and his entourage left Champlifplatz and returned to their quarters, a two-storey white Victorian building that belonged to the private property of wealthy Dutch businessmen and where the negotiating delegation had stayed.

Go back to the room

Winbeck did not show any excitement at the negotiation scene, and a very heavy look appeared on his face, he was very unoptimistic about the prospects of this difficult negotiation, the Governor was still too optimistic, and the appetite of the Queenslanders was much greater than expected.

The specific requirements will not be enumerated in detail, and almost all of the three main aspects involve territory and compensation.

First, Shangri-La's private fiefdom status as an exclusive Earl of Queensland is non-negotiable, indivisible and inviolable, and must be formally guaranteed and respected by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Second, it is proposed that the Borneo region be divided into the existing occupied areas, and that a military ceasefire be achieved as soon as possible, so that the two sides can jointly promote the prosperity, stability and order of Borneo.

The Queensland side regretted the displacement of people and property losses caused by the war, which was also an important reason for Queensland's initiative to conclude a treaty, and hoped that the war could not continue, and hoped that the two sides would hold constructive talks for the purpose of peace to bring lasting peace and prosperity to the region.

Third, the Earl of Queensland strongly condemned the unjust war of aggression launched by the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, and the Dutch side must make a public apology and compensation for all casualties and heavy economic losses caused thereby, compensate for the war losses of 7.2 million pounds, and the Dutch side ceded Samarinda and the surrounding areas, the scope of which is to be determined.

There are 21 demands for negotiations, some for apologies, some for various special benefits, some for the establishment of a commercial port in Batavia, some for transit trade in the ports of Batavia and Surabaya, some for apologies and compensation, and some for the Dutch side to reduce its military strength.

This is not a double hurt for the arrogant Dutchman, he feels extreme shame and grievance in his heart, and has the idea of wanting to vent wildly, but no one dares to act rashly on the territory of the British, it is pure!

None of these 21 demands had the right to agree to any of them, so he could only send all the negotiating texts submitted by the other side back to the Governor's Office of Batavia, presumably to the Prime Minister's Office in Amsterdam via interstate cable telegram as soon as possible, and finally to His Majesty King William III of the Netherlands.

It is conceivable that it will be a storm of anger that will cover the face......

Well, this is far from being able to influence Wenbeck, the war has nearly 10,000 casualties, the existing military strength of the Dutch East Indies has completely lost control of the situation, the situation that has just stabilized in the Aceh war has deteriorated, the coffin board is a little uncontrollable, and the Hindu rulers of Bali are ready to move, there have been cases of bad attacks on Dutch officials in Lombok, and some other oppressed Ish* Christians have revolted one after another, and now the Dutch East Indies are full of flames.

The Governor's Mansion has the feeling of sitting on the crater of a volcano, and the slightest carelessness will kill the incense, and a wisp of incense will float to hell......

Wenbeck didn't know why the situation had deteriorated so quickly, but if he thought about it with his toes, he knew that there must be a black hand of the Queenslander in it, and he definitely didn't run away.

Anything that can cause chaos in the Governor's Palace, Queenslanders will surely do it happily and happily.

Damn, it all sucks!