Emperor Richard crossed his hands and leisurely browsed through the map of South America, his gaze finally paused on the surrounding areas of Chile and Colombia, and nodded secretly.

Cuba is a fruit that has long been destined to be picked, and this is not in a hurry for the time being.

If it were to attack South American countries, Colombia and Chile would be the targets to choose from, for the simple reason that it was possible.

Colombia is adjacent to the province of Panama of the Tang Empire, and after the construction of the Central American Railway, goods and people from North America can travel unimpeded south through the main railway artery, or they can be reached by convenient sea.

If you start a colonial war, it will cost less, the results will be quick, and there will be a chance that you will be able to cut off a large territory, why not?

Colombia, as a former part of the Aztec Empire, sent troops to conquer the region, which was a stronger deterrent and more effective for South American countries.

The disadvantage is that Colombia is a relatively large country with a large population, with a total population of about 5.7 million to 6 million, and it will take a lot of effort to conquer it, so it is advisable to act cautiously.

Chile is a long and narrow country on the Pacific side, with a population of 3.15 million, mainly white immigrants, supplemented by mixed Indians, and is a military dictatorship for more than ten years.

If Chile is conquered, the Tang Empire can fully incorporate its territory into the Andean Governor's Palace, and have more than 2,400 kilometers of coastline in the Pacific coastal area, taking into account the geographical advantages of the two oceans.

The disadvantage is that Chile is located in a small corner and is not the territory of the traditional Aztec Empire, and the conquest of the country has less deterrent effect on Venezuela, Peru, Colombia and other countries, and the effect is less.

I thought about it

Richard tentatively selected Colombia and Chile as alternative locations, and there is an opportunity to hammer them in the future to facilitate the integration of the last piece of the puzzle in South America into the big unified South American market.

The policy of the Americas advocated by the "Liu Xianjun Doctrine" was the foundation of the foreign policy of the Tang Empire, which was equivalent to the "European balance" policy promoted by the United Kingdom, and was placed in the most important priority.

During the Franco-Prussian War, European countries were caught in turmoil in the rebalancing of power, leaving them free to take care of other regional affairs.

If you have the opportunity

One of these two countries could be included in the list of potential targets for conquest, using force to bring about the final piece of the puzzle in South America.

Since the donkey refuses to go, he whips it away.

Now that the situation in South America is calm, all countries are afraid of the Tang Empire, and the etiquette is quite in place.

During the Lunar New Year celebration, dignitaries from various countries arrived in Chang'an, the imperial capital, to present congratulatory gifts, and this year is the same, which has formed a rule.

For a while, it was not easy to find an excuse to send troops to beat.

Emperor Richard's eyes were now focused on the Americas, especially Central and South America, which was his focus.

The Cuban Civil War is in its third year, and the rebels, led by President Céspedes, are still active in the jungles of the southeastern provinces, occupying the main towns in Camagüey Province and waging a-for-tat struggle against the Spanish colonial army.

The Spanish colonizers continued to use bloody repressive methods and continued to launch large-scale encirclement and suppression operations against the rebel army, and fierce fighting broke out between the two sides in many southeastern provinces, causing considerable losses to the rebel army.

The Cuban rebel army, which consisted mainly of native-born whites, black slaves, mixed Indians and plantation owners, demanded the emancipation of slaves and the political demands of Cuban independence and equality and freedom of the people, but the Spaniards did not agree to any of them.

The positions of the two sides are far apart, so only the subordinates can see the real chapter.

At the peak of the Cuban rebel army last year, the number of rebel troops rapidly increased to more than 70,000, and they conquered seven southeastern provinces and important towns such as Keyala, Gole, Chiguani, and Bayamo, and captured many local white Spanish estate owners and their families.

In parallel with their military victory, the Cuban rebels seized large quantities of gold and silver treasures and food, greatly improved their poor logistical supply, and tried to sell their gold and silver treasures in exchange for more smuggled arms.

Out of anger, most of the captive Spanish haciendas and their families were executed or humiliated, and only a few were released after paying a large ransom.

And all this undoubtedly aroused the great anger of the Spanish colonial army.

The 31,000-strong colonial army under the command of Generals Lessondi i Omachea and D. D. Dulce i Calais, under the Viceroyalty of Cuba, counterattacked from the south and north to the north, and after several fierce battles, successively regained the eastern provinces.

Subsequently, the Spanish colonial army showed its butcher's knife, frantically killing the local people who supported the rebel army, and slaughtering villages and towns at every turn, and the methods were very bloody and cruel.

Badly hit, many of the rebels who had gathered temporarily were either wiped out or scattered, fleeing into the jungle for shelter. At one point, the size of the Cuban rebel army was reduced to more than 20,000 people, and it faced a rather grim situation.

Fortunately, President de Céspedes realized in time that the rebel army was not strong enough to confront the Cuban colonial army head-on, so he wisely chose to evacuate his troops, retain his vital forces and fight the enemy to the end, and relied on the jungles and villages to fight the Spanish guerrilla.

Well, keep fighting!

Emperor Richard took his eyes back from the map of Central America, and the situation in Cuba did not need to be considered for the time being, and the civil war continued for a few more years.

He turned and walked backwards, and happened to see Viscount Yao Guangyi, deputy director of the Royal Secretariat, and Baron Liang Bojun approaching, and bent down from a distance to salute; "Ministers knock on Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

Emperor Richard walked to the throne and sat down, and then asked; "What?" As he spoke, he took a sip of the freshly brewed tea, and looked at it.

The Royal Janissaries, the Royal Secretariat, the Royal Chamberlain, and the Royal Interior Office all belong to the category of ministers and are servants of the Crown. Naturally, there is no need to pay attention to etiquette like foreign ministers, and it seems to be much more casual.

After another salute, Yao Guangyi and Liang Bojun stepped forward, Yao Guangyi presented a piece of music in his hand with both hands, and said softly;

"Your Majesty; These pro-Western school members, who have danced happily in the press and public opinion, have been screened by the Propaganda Department and the General Security Bureau, and a total of 681 people have been recorded, and their speech tendencies are very dangerous.

Some advocate overthrowing the moral categories of traditional Chinese culture and morality, learning from the West in an all-round way, inciting the upsurge of blind worship of the West, and advocating the "theory of Western nobility".

Some advocate abandoning the Chinese language, adopting Latin phonetics, fully integrating with the West in terms of language, and implementing the great plan of national rejuvenation.

Some advocate monogamy, change the traditional social ethical structure, and even oppose the traditional culture of ancestor worship, which is a comprehensive denial.

Some were dissatisfied with the imperial suppression of Indians and blacks and other ethnic minorities, and the yin and yang weird spirit of the past and the present, advocating the benevolence and righteousness of Yao Shun, the generosity and tolerance of the Han and Tang dynasties, and the open-mindedness of all rivers.

Some of them are useless in the traditional Chinese architectural aesthetics, fanatically worship Western architectural culture, and write articles in newspapers and magazines about the aesthetics of French neo-romanticism, the exquisite and elegant British neo-Victorian architecture, and the Roman classicism that has been handed down to the world.

There are also some scholars with ill intentions, who make irresponsible remarks about the encroachment of a large amount of land and the possession of a large amount of imperial wealth by the royal family and the great nobles, and who are not accustomed to all kinds of things and all kinds of picks and chooses the fat and the thin, and must be comprehensively rectified to stop this unhealthy trend that spreads. ”

Emperor Richard flipped through this book for a long time, and his brows were tightly knit as he browsed it.

There are a few examples and quotations in the recital, and it seems that the problem is quite serious, and some famous scholars and masters of Chinese studies are also involved, and almost all of the top 10 universities in the empire are not spared.

There are many familiar names in it, including Chinese, British, German, French, Italian, professors or scholars, forming a trend of swaying public opinion, denigrating the achievements of the empire from all sides, anyway, all kinds of provocations!

Emperor Richard saw that his heart was on fire, and the color became more and more unsightly.

Half an hour later

Richard finally put down the music in his hand, silently picked up the teacup and took a sip, and when he put it down, he hit it heavily on the royal table, and with a "snap", the frightened two deputy directors turned white, and bent down respectfully.

"Aiqing in the broad sense, this matter will be supervised and handled by you throughout the process, because the matter is important, it is advisable to hand it over to the State Security Administration to co-organize, and it will be resolved quickly and without leaving hidden dangers." When Emperor Richard said the last 8 words, he was already full of expression, and the murderous intent loomed.

Viscount Yao Guangyi bent down deeply, and replied with both hands; "Weichen must live up to the trust of the saints, must dig deep into the remnants, eliminate the evil, completely eliminate the cancer in the field of imperial cultural propaganda, and set the record straight, suppress the dynasty, clarify the law, and prevent a literary thief from escaping the law."

That's it

The cultural field of the Tang Empire will inevitably set off an earth-shattering wave, involving far more than these 681 people, but multiplied by 10 or 20 or even more, which will be enough to shake the whole society, and the influence will be far-reaching.

In the great development of the empire, it once neglected to guide the field of culture and entertainment.

Later, in the early days of the establishment of the Imperial Propaganda Department, a large-scale purge was carried out against all kinds of increasingly widespread speech, which effectively guided and played an immediate and good effect.

Unexpectedly, after a few years, some people have healed their scars and forgotten the pain, and in the rolling social tide, the old scum has risen, taking advantage of the relatively open atmosphere of the empire to mingle in the fields of public opinion, newspapers, and broadcasts, and hype up all kinds of strange and innovative remarks.

There is a great courage to swear without being shocking, and some of the old and young people of the Manchu Dynasty put their braids cut and dug ancestral graves side by side, and their vicious thoughts are self-evident.

We must vigorously rectify these rampant unhealthy tendencies.

Many of the scholars and scholars listed in the concert are well-known and well-known in the academic field, and some of them are even members of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, and are inextricably linked to the high society of European countries.

Without His Majesty the Emperor's words, it would be difficult for ordinary imperial government departments to get them.

Even if it is to pursue responsibility, the Propaganda Department lacks the necessary means to enforce it, and it still has to rely on the violent departments such as the General Police Administration and the State Security Bureau, and it seems that it needs to release some necessary administrative punishment rights to the Imperial Propaganda Department!

It is best to put out a single symptom when it is found, so as not to ignite a raging fire and shake the society, which is also a mistake to consider, and it needs to be remedied in time.

(End of chapter)