The essence of imperialism is to bluff, using their prestige to intimidate and blackmail small and weak countries in the region, the most successful example;

During the Second Opium War, the Tsarist Russian Empire intimidated the Qing Empire in the name of armed intervention, and easily achieved its goal.

Through such vicious means, Tsarist Russia acquired more than 1.7 million square kilometers of border territory without firing a single shot, and also coveted Xinjiang and Mongolia and other places with an insatiable desire, showing its ugly face.

Britain and France won a crushing victory in the First Crimean War, while the Russian Empire was beaten to the brink and had to abandon the "westward expansion policy" that had been adhered to for more than 200 years, and turned to the east.

In February 1856, Tsarist Russia surrendered.

In October 1856, just eight months after the end of the Crimean War, Britain and France joined forces with Tsarist Russia, which had been defeated in the First Crimean War, to launch the Second Opium War, which aimed to expand colonial interests.

This time, the imperialists targeted the corrupt Manchu government.

In 1858, Russia seized 600,000 square kilometers north of the Heilongjiang River and south of the Outer Khing'an Mountains in the northeast of Shenzhou.

In the Treaty of Beijing in 1860, 400,000 square kilometers of land east of the Ussuri River were ceded to Russia.

In 1863, the Sino-Russian Treaty on the Survey and Demarcation of the Northwest Boundary occupied 440,000 square kilometers of territory east of Lake Balkhash in northwest China.

In addition, the territory ceded by the Kangxi Dynasty from Huaxia Shenzhou in the "Treaty of Nebuchu" totaled more than 200,000 square kilometers.

600,000 + 400,000 + 440,000 + more than 200,000≈ 1.7 million (sq km)

The huge losses suffered by the Tsarist Empire in the Crimean War were actually made up for by the Qing Empire, where is the reason?

During this period

The Tang Empire is always keeping an eye on the civil war between the north and the south of the United States, intensively preparing for the war, and is ready to find a favorable opportunity to intervene in this great war that will determine the final pattern of North America.

When the British, French, Russian and other imperialists were eating a lot of oil in China, the Tang Empire also completely defeated the United States of America (North) through a series of large-scale battles, and established the hegemony of the entire Americas.

In this wave of exchange, the Tang Empire did not suffer.

After the North American War, a series of important treaties were signed, the establishment of a unified market in North America, the post-war reconstruction led by the Tang Empire, and the reorganization of the financial order and other strategic measures finally formed a North American pattern of "one belt and three small".

Whether it is the northern dollar issued by the United States of America in the north or the southern dollar issued by the Federal States of America in the south, its currency value is linked to the Tang Yuan issued by the Tang Empire at a ratio of 1:1, and the linked exchange rate system is implemented.

Other words;

The credibility of the United States of America (North) and the Confederate States of America (South) is not sufficient to support the strong value of the issued currencies, and they must be linked to the Tang Yuan and gold in order to rebuild the value system.

For example; In the banks of the above two countries that are licensed to issue US dollars, they must deposit 10,000 Tang Yuan in order to issue 10,000 US dollars (Note; North dollar or south dollar), the dollar is not actually a banknote, but a Tang Yuan exchange certificate.

The basic logic is;

With the redemption voucher in hand (Note; North dollar or south dollar), residents can go to the bank to exchange the same value of Tang Yuan.

The banks of these two countries do not have the authority to over-issue currency, nor are they able to print money to clear their liabilities or stimulate the economy, and the financial means available to them are quite limited.

In order to obtain the right to issue exchange certificates, the above-mentioned banks had to deposit the gold in the designated banks of the Tang Empire, namely the Eight Great Banks of the Empire.

Through financial and debt means, the Tang Empire basically dominated the financial and bond markets of the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, and had the ability to influence their monetary policy and influence their domestic political trends.

Back to the point

Seeing that the blackmail methods of the British Empire failed, the British Minister James was full of complaints and dissatisfaction, but he had no choice but to give up with the tough Tang Empire.

It was okay for him to deceive Brazil, Argentina or Uruguay with these methods, but the Andean Governor's Office did not accept this at all, let alone take Minister James, a dignified envoy of the British Empire, in his eyes, and even failed to do anything perfunctory.

This made Minister James can't help but complain behind his back;

A bunch of barbarians, reckless, rude and unaware of the so-called colonizers, barbarians without faith......

April 13, 1867

A week after the outbreak of the war

The news of the defeat in the Binonite Valley reached São Paulo, the capital of Brazil, and once again caused an earthquake in the upper echelons of Brazilian politics, and the empire was in turmoil.

Throughout the history of the Brazilian Empire, its predecessor was a Portuguese colony, which lasted from the Age of Discovery to the early 19th century.

Napoleon attacked Portugal in 1807 and occupied Lisbon on December 1 of the same year.

In 1808, the Portuguese royal family and most of the Lisbon aristocracy fled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to escape the war. From 1808 to 1821, the city was the capital of Portugal, the only capital in Europe that was not on European soil.

In August 1820, the Liberal Revolution took place in Portugal, and the first measure of the new government was to invite King João VI, who had been exiled to Brazil, to return home.

Given the opportunity to dismount, João VI returned home with almost all the royal family and ministers, landed in Lisbon in July 1821 and regained the Portuguese throne.

After the return of João VI, the first Constituent Assembly of Portugal attempted to revoke the privileges granted to Brazil by João VI and to revert Brazil back to colonial status.

Brazilians have long been accustomed to having a king and government of their own, and this practice has further stimulated the mood of Brazilians to have their own king and government.

Brazil could not accept the abolition of its privileges and its re-colonization, and civil opposition was rising.

In this case, João VI's son Pedro decided to stay behind to oppose the Portuguese government's resolution, and João VI also acquiesced to his son's approach, reaching a certain tacit agreement.

On September 7, 1822, Prince Pedro, who remained alone in Brazil, declared independence and established the Brazilian Empire.

By 1866, the new regime was the sixth largest country in the world, the territory of the Brazilian Empire was second only to Britain, France, Russia and China, and the current emperor was Pedro II, a lucky man who inherited the throne as a child.

resplendent palace

Pedro II angrily brandished his sword and slashed the fine porcelain and antiques on the table, smashing the baroque table, which originated in the 16th-century Portuguese court, into ruin.

He couldn't control the anger in his heart, and shouted loudly;

"How can you lose like this? Are Argentines stupid pigs? Even if more than 40,000 pigs are caught, it will take a few days, I don't believe it...... Something must have gone wrong? ”

"God testifies that I curse all those Easterners to go to hell, including all of them."

"Damn the Argentines, damn the Orientals, and damn the British, in order to preserve the sacred royal power and honor, the Brazilian Empire will never back down, to hell with them."

"Oh...... Poor Duke Marques de Casias, he bears everything alone, it's not fair......"

"That's right...... I'm going to write a handwritten letter to the Demon King Richard, I once sent my blessing when he ascended the throne, did I get such a reward? ”

Seeing that Pedro II's furious appearance was like a wayward child, Prime Minister Pacquiao Flores sighed secretly and stepped forward to dissuade him; "Your Majesty, as hard as it is believable, this unfortunate thing happened. Should we think about what to do? ”

"The glory of the Brazilian Empire is above all else, and the brave knights are not afraid of sacrifice, there is no doubt about it; I believe that Duke Cassias will bring me the victory I want, and the Brazilian Empire has always been the most powerful country in South America. ”

"Uh...... I'm afraid the Argentines won't be able to hold out? ”

"How so? What do you mean......" Pedro II calmed down from his rage, turned his head and stared at the Prime Minister with a look of disbelief on his face.

Brazilian Prime Minister Pacquiao Flores shrugged his shoulders helplessly and said in a tone of "I expected it a long time ago";

"Your Majesty;

Although I don't want to admit it, the speculators in Buenos Aires are really unreliable. In the unfavorable situation on the battlefield, I fear that Argentina will take the lead in making peace with the Tang Empire, thereby betraying the interests of the allies of the Brazilian Empire.

We have to guard against this. ”

"My dear Prime Minister, have you received any news?" Pedro II asked as he blurted out a slight change of color.

Prime Minister Pacquiao Flores hesitated, but still spoke;

"Your Majesty;

The bad news of the defeat arrived with a request from the Argentine government to renegotiate its position;

They hoped to re-examine the operational objectives of the Allied forces, hoped not to occupy the Paraguayan capital of Yacençon, not to overstimulate the Tang Empire, and hoped that military operations would be restrained as much as possible.

What does this mean?

It shows that our Argentine allies have been timid and are trying to send some kind of signal in this way, and this does not bode well.

When the big ship of the Triple Alliance just showed signs of water leakage, some people already wanted to jump ship.

Compared to the Argentines who can sacrifice the interests of the provinces to curry favor with the enemy, we are faced with a more serious situation, and there is little way out. ”

Prime Minister Pacquiao Flores' apprehensive words calmed Pedro II completely, and he also frowned deeply and felt a lot of trouble.

Think about it for a moment

Pedro II asked in a cautious tone; "Prime Minister, do you have any effective countermeasures?"

Prime Minister Pacquiao Flores replied;

"Your Majesty;

I propose that the news of the defeat be immediately blocked, lest it cause violent social upheaval and give an opportunity for those with bad intentions and democratic republicans to stir up trouble.

It is imperative that we continue to rapidly increase our forces to the front line.

At present, the Allied forces are sufficient to deal with Paraguay, but they are far from enough to deal with the mobilized Tang Empire, and there is still a big gap.

Even if it is out of prudence, at least another 200,000 men will be armed.

A dignified exit from the war can now be considered, but it will be difficult to get the results that the Brazilian Empire wants if the battlefield is not achieved.

at all costs

To try to gain the initiative on the battlefield, the Orientals were much more difficult to deal with than the Paraguayans, and they were much stronger, and it was the Brazilian Empire that was facing real big trouble.

How to survive this crisis, I am afraid that we will need the support of European forces......"

"To be specific, what do you mean ......," Pedro II blurted out.

He guessed something in his mind, but he wasn't quite sure.

Prime Minister Pacquiao Flores replied unequivocally;

"The Brazilian Empire, which could accept 200,000 or more casualties, could not afford the social upheaval of defeat, and the rivals of the imperial power and the anarchists had been demagoguery trying to find an opportunity to make a difference.

In any case, the empire must cut off the germ of the danger of secession.

As long as we can get strong economic support and use the temptation of the freedom to emancipate slaves, we can arm an army of black slaves.

Thus dragging the war into a state of long-term stalemate, and then getting what we need at the negotiating table.

The promises of the British were too unreliable, the French usurers had a strong influence over the government, and we could get support from the French to fight the war.

Bundling of interests is a good way to go, at least the French usurers will not be willing to see the defeat of the Brazilian Empire. ”

Listening to the Prime Minister's words, Pedro II's eyes gradually lit up, and he nodded vigorously and said; "Then act now, we need money and strong support from the French to strengthen the conviction of the Argentine allies to continue fighting. Brazil will never lose to those hateful Orientals, never ......"

The establishment of the Kingdom of Brazil was not without its challenges, and in 1822, it caused a thunderous wrath of the Portuguese Parliament, which sent a Portuguese expeditionary force to eliminate the newly established Kingdom of Brazil and try to restore colonial rule.

In this case

Pedro I drew his sword, shouted the famous proclamation "Liberty, death", and subsequently confiscated the fields of many Portuguese lords and expelled the Portuguese nobility.

Finally, thanks to the military intervention of the British, Portugal recognized the independence of the Kingdom of Brazil and legislated a ban on Portuguese immigration to Brazil.

The relationship between the two has also completely broken down, and it is a bit of a sense of old age and death.

At a time when the Brazilian Empire was facing a crisis, it was impossible to count on Portugal, the former suzerain, to do anything, it was a pipe dream.

Of Brazil's population of more than 15 million, people of pure white descent make up a tiny fraction of the population, less than one-fifth of the population, or between 2.6 million and 2.8 million people.

The rest are mixed-race whites, Indians or blacks, and there is a sentence that vividly describes the different historical periods of Brazil's development, that is, "the early stage relied on Indian slaves, and the later period relied on black slaves".

During the period of the Great Discoveries, when the Portuguese landed on the South American continent, the country had a population of just over 1.5 million, and the Portuguese colonists were busy plundering the wealth of India and the Far East, and it was difficult to mobilize more people from the suzerainty to develop Portuguese America.

In this way, the more than 3 million indigenous Indians in the land of Brazil naturally became the objects of enslavement of the colonizers, and there was no way out.

According to historical records;

As early as 1531, Baron Martin Afonso de Souza, the first Portuguese military governor in Brazil, sent a "deep team" of more than 80 people into the interior to search for gold, raiding Indian villages along the way, and taking the captured Indians to the coastal areas as slaves, which was the beginning of the enslavement of the Indians.

This was so successful that the Portuguese colonists followed suit, forming "Bandera Teams" and entering the interior to capture Indians and forcing them to work as slaves on sugar plantations.

On the blood, sweat and bones of the Indians, the foundation of the primitive accumulation of capital in Portuguese America was laid.

The Portuguese were the main players in the notorious triangular trade and the most ferocious slave owners. The Indians who were caught died in large numbers as a result of the heavy labor on the plantations, and the labor force could not make ends meet.

As the plantation economy grew, the Portuguese colonizers turned to trafficking and driving black Africans.

In this way, the main stage of slavery in Brazil ~ the stage of enslavement of black Africans began.

Between 1575 and 1650

Angola alone shipped 385,000 slaves to Brazil, and in the seventeenth century, 800,000 slaves were trafficked into Brazil.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the "gold rush" in Brazil arose, and the slave trade reached its peak, reaching its peak with 50,000 black slaves entering Brazil every year.

The total number of black slaves imported into Brazil during the period of slavery was about 15 million, and the more precise figure is estimated from documentary sources and some special records, and the total number of black Africans who entered Brazil by 1866 was estimated to be 7.33 million.

In fact, the numbers are much more than that.

so far

The total number of black slaves in the Brazilian Empire was about 4.2 million, surpassing the United States to become the largest destination for black slaves, and slavery still exists today, and the slave trade is still rampant.

According to statistics

Between 1820 and 1865 alone, more than 1.4 million slaves were shipped to Brazil.

Throughout the colonial period, slavery was the foundation of Brazilian plantations, and the Brazilian plantation and mining industries developed entirely on the blood and sweat of slaves.

Under the harsh conditions, the mortality rate of blacks was extremely high, and the average life expectancy of black slaves was only 7 years.

Prime Minister Pacquiao-Flores is confident because the Brazilian Empire has a staggering number of black slaves, as well as Indians at the bottom of society, who can have as many cannon fodder as they want.

Not to mention 200,000 people, even 500,000 is not a problem.

The only thing that constrained the Brazilian Empire's frantic expansion of its army was economic, and as an agrarian country, the Brazilian Empire did not have that much money to arm a large army.

Even if half armed with muskets and half armed with spears and scimitars, 500,000 troops would be enough to bring down Brazil's weak finances.

Pedro II knows what the old fox is thinking?

As long as the Brazilian Empire survives the current difficulties, with the fig leaf of victory, it is enough to maintain the feudal control of the Brazilian Empire for a long time in the future, and the huge war debts it bears, then it will be necessary to find a way.

It is nothing more than a means of collecting money such as a war tax, and in case a new gold deposit is discovered, it will be OK, and the war debt will be paid off in minutes.

As long as the rule of the Brazilian Empire can be maintained for a long time, nothing is a problem.

Brazil was plagued by a complex set of political forces, and Pedro II, the emperor, had to maneuver between these great nobles and large estate owners to maintain his semblance.

The veil must not be torn off, otherwise the anger of the population will ignite the whole of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and the ruling class of the Brazilian Empire will be doomed.