Inside the Daming Palace

On the occasion of the Spring Festival in 1875, the Daming Palace was lit up with lights, flowers were in full bloom, and there was a rich festive atmosphere.

At this time, it is the annual Lantern Festival, and various large palace lanterns with exquisite shapes and shapes are hung in the court, which are inspired by the characters of the landscape. Each one is made by a famous artist, and the illustrations are top-notch, and the materials are also very exquisite.

Emperor Richard accompanied the harem concubines and princes in the festival, and the emperors and grandchildren enjoyed the lanterns and scenery on the shore of Taiye Lake, enjoying the strong royal family affection, and the children and grandchildren were really at ease.

The extravagant scenes of the imperial court will not be repeated one by one.

Most of the foreign legations had already left, but only the Emperor of Fuso and the Viceroy of Canada, Palmerston, stayed in the imperial capital of Chang'an, where they spent the Lunar New Year of 1875 together.

Fortunately, they will not be lonely, the imperial capital of Chang'an is full of powerful people, and it coincides with the New Year, and the luxurious night banquets will be held one after another, and they will not stop in the first month of the lunar calendar. As a guest of honor invited by the nobles of the empire, he can't be idle at all.

Needless to say, Lord Palmerston, the Viceroy of Canada, stayed at least until April, when they were basically stationed in the imperial capital of Chang'an or went to Chicago in the summer.

In particular, Lord and Mrs. Palmerston are too old to endure the cold of Canada's high latitudes, and did not spend a day in Canada for the whole of last year.

This was due to the participation in the São Paulo summit and the personal wishes of the Governor and his wife.

Three days after the Lantern Festival, Emperor Meiji Fuso asked to enter the palace for an audience and was ready to resign and return home.

"Well, let's see it, Emperor Meiji still knows how to do things, this time the state gift sent 108 lifelike dolls, and also sent 108 Dongying girls, which is considered to have a heart." Emperor Richard is now refreshed, and the years do not seem to have left too many traces on him, and he is still the same young and energetic appearance.

After a little consideration, he commanded; "There is no need to meet alone, the time is set for the great court meeting in March of the new year, and Lord Palmerston and the envoys of other countries will be received together."

"Wechen obeys!" After Director Zheng Yuan received the order, he hesitated, but still reminded carefully; "Your Majesty, the Fuso people sent 20 beauties and some gadgets to my house, and the intention is still ......"

Emperor Richard understood as soon as he heard it, and replied in a salty tone; "If they are willing to give it, you will take it. What to ask for...... It is inconvenient for me to interfere in the internal affairs of Fuso, so let them do their own thing. ”

Speaking of which

Emperor Richard turned his head to look at the deputy director Liang Bojun and Lu Dawei, and asked with a frown; "The Japanese people have been very active recently, won't the two of you also receive gifts from the Fusang people?"

"Back to Your Majesty's words, Weichen didn't dare to hide it, the two of us did receive the gifts of the Japanese people, it was 5 girls and some special products, and the ministers of the cabinet also had different respects." Lu Dawei hurriedly stepped forward and answered first.

"Wechen is ashamed!" Liang Bojun could only salute and replied.

Emperor Richard shook his head uncertainly, and did not object, but only reminded; "Women can accept it, but they must not be allowed to come into contact with confidential matters, and they must know the truth that their hearts will be different if they are not of my race."

"Your Majesty, the ministers have kept it in mind, and they will not dare to violate the holy oracle." The three directors and deputy directors of the Secretariat replied.

The emperor of the white prostitutes, and neither did the cabinet ministers and the chief of the secretariat, because the monarchs and ministers of the Tang Empire did not look down on these Japanese people at all, and only regarded them as the filial piety of the vassal state.

Emperor Meiji's trip to the Hajj of the Tang Empire brought no less than 300 beauties, as well as a large number of Fuso specialties, such as smaller silk dolls, Japanese armor, handicrafts, etc., in addition to paying tribute to the imperial family, he also visited the upper echelons of the empire extensively, and really spent a lot of wealth.

Unfortunately, the actual effect did not meet expectations, and the imperial family did not respond to the main appeal of Emperor Meiji, which was a reward for extraordinarily generous gifts, giving 100 buckets of gold and 10,000 tons of grain.

So-called; The inconvenience of interfering in internal affairs is purely a pretext.

As an emerging colonial power in the world today, the Tang Empire frequently intervened in the internal affairs of the United States of America and the Confederate States of America in North America, questioned certain policies, and still dominated the diplomatic, customs and economic fields of the United States of America.

Attempts by the United States of America to emulate France by issuing war bonds to the population to repay the remaining war reparations and to reclaim control of the customs and financial spheres were rejected in Congress.

It can be seen from this

The Tang Empire wielded significant influence in the United States of America to subvert its policies, and it had been using its influence to install retired Chinese officers and soldiers in government departments and to support pro-Chinese political party activities.

In South American countries, the Tang Empire supported a number of pro-Tang governments, vigorously suppressed dissent, and even took many special actions overseas to eradicate opposition and nationalists, and interfered in the internal affairs of South American countries.

The so-called non-interference is an internal affair, which is perfunctory and careless.

Emperor Richard knew it in his heart;

After half a century of fermentation and evolution, the evil of the imperial state of Fuso will become a fanatical belief of the whole nation, and will bring great disasters to the whole of East and Southeast Asia.

Of course, the Tang Empire could not promote this kind of imperial worship, and using the old power of the shogunate to contain the reformists became a good counterbalance.

The monarchs and ministers were gossiping, and suddenly someone below handed over an update message;

Just two days ago, Shinyuki Matsuda, the prime minister of the second government of Fuso, was assassinated in Tokyo.

Thanks to the trans-Pacific submarine cable connection, the news of major events around the world can be transmitted back to the imperial capital Chang'an in the first time through the relay of long-distance telegraph offices along the way.

2~3 days in East Asia, 4~5 days in the Indian subcontinent, and much slower in the Western Pacific island countries, such as Australia and Paradise Island, which take at least 3 weeks, and Luzon Islands 2 weeks.

Because these island nations need to send the news to the nearest long-distance telegraph office by cruise ship, and then they can relay the message back to the mainland of the empire, the timeliness is much worse.

How so?

Emperor Richard's expression suddenly turned cold, and Director Zheng Yuan immediately stood up and saluted; "Your Majesty, Weichen immediately set out to send someone to investigate, is there anything else hidden in this?"

"Well, deal with it properly with the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these widows are really stubborn, go ahead!"

"Wechen obeys!" After Director Zheng Yuan left, the two deputy directors also quickly bowed down and retired.

Emperor Richard was upset by this sudden news, and walked to the large hand-drawn world map hanging in the imperial study, and soon his mind was immersed in it......

Throughout the Americas, the empire's vast territory stretched from north to south, and one of the major railway arteries marked in red was particularly eye-catching: the Pacific Railroad.

The planned Pacific Railroad is expected to be more than 16,500 kilometers long from Vancouver in the north and Tierra del Fuego in the south, making it the longest railway line in the world.

The Pacific Railway is formed by the convergence of more than a dozen local railways, more than 10,200 kilometers in the north, extending from Panama to the south into Colombia, and has been built to Medellin, an important town in the hinterland of Colombia.

The next step will be to branch off from the main artery of the railway and extend southwest to the capital Bogotá.

The main artery of the Pacific Railway continues southward to the southern town of Dalí, passes through Quito, the capital of the province of Zhongzhou (formerly Ecuador), and then goes south into the province of Fuyuan (the northern part of Peru ceded to the province), and this section of the railway line is in full swing.

To the south, we entered the country of Peru.

At the São Paulo summit, the Tang Empire and the head of government of Peru signed a contract to jointly establish the Pacific Railway Company, which was for this railway artery connecting the north and south of the empire.

Pacific Railroad (Peru) contract provisions;

The Tang Empire provided capital, technology, equipment and part of the labor force, occupying 82% of the company's equity, and Peru provided land and part of the labor along the line, occupying 18% of the company's equity.

The two parties will share the operating revenues of the Pacific Railway Company (Peruvian Section) in proportion to their equity and provide all necessary support.

Within 20 kilometers of the railway, it is owned by the Pacific Railway Company (Peru), which has railway police, labor unions and other organizations responsible for maintaining law and order in the region.

The Government of Peru should not intervene in the affairs of the Pacific Railroad (Peru) region unless it has the necessary reasons......

It was a contract that seriously violated the sovereignty of the Peruvian government, but as a semi-colonial country, the territory was dismembered and it bore huge war reparations, the army was disbanded, the customs were held in trust, and the country was full of military bases of the Tang Empire.

In this case, the Peruvian government has to sign if it is not signed, and it is entirely up to them to decide at their own discretion.

This was the hegemony of the Tang Empire, and the Pacific Railway passed through Peru to the south, and then connected to the central railway of the Andean Viceroyalty (Note; The name of the main line of the local railway), and finally the main Atlantic railway under the Andean Viceroyalty was connected by a branch railway line to the south to Tierra del Fuego.

This long railway line, with the exception of about 2,300 kilometers in the central part (mainly Zhongzhou Province, Fuyuan Province, Peru and the territories ceded from Bolivia) has not yet been built, and the rest has been largely completed.

The rest of the railway line was built quickly under the large investment of the empire, and the whole line could be completed in about 5~6 years, that is, the construction was completed by the end of 1880.

The reason why it takes so long is that the middle section of the railway line passes through the edge of the Amazon rainforest with complex terrain and abundant rain, and many bridges need to be erected and many tunnels need to be opened, which is difficult to build.

It is estimated that;

The 2,300 proposed railway is about 1/6 of the whole line, which needs to pass through bridges, tunnels, railway culverts, and cross countless rivers and mountains before it can be finally completed.

Emperor Richard's gaze lingered for a moment in Cuba, Central America, before moving elsewhere......

At the beginning of the statehood

The long-term, medium-term, and long-term goals he planned for the Tang Empire were achieved one by one, and now only Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Luzon were left under the rule of the Spanish colonizers.

Sooner or later

If the above-mentioned areas are to be included in the Tang Empire, and the last piece of the puzzle of the empire in the Americas is completed, it will be perfect.

But now is not the time, and patience is needed.

The Tang Empire has just acquired a large area of land in the Americas, and about 4 million South American residents, including Colombia, still need to digest it, and it is not appropriate to expand on a large scale in the short term.

With the connivance of the imperial government, young women from South America were continuously transported into the southern, central and northern provinces of the empire through various human trafficking channels, effectively alleviating the contradiction between men and women in the empire.

Stimulated by profits, many armed human trafficking groups have joined this lucrative business to plunder young women from the Colombian region, causing a continuous decline in the region's population.

The military and police turned a deaf ear to this, and when some local Indian or native Caucasian men resisted, they were immediately suppressed, beaten and thrown into a forced labor camp.

It just so happens that the new colonies of Colombia are building a lot of buildings, building bridges, paving roads, building railways, mining mines, and labor is needed everywhere, and the labor camps are the best supplement.

Over the course of several years, the region is expected to lose between 1.3 million and 1.4 million young women, and society as a whole will lose the ability to reproduce.

The number of local people who have been put into the hard labor camps will also reach more than one million, and the effect of reducing the number of people will be very obvious.

The Tang Empire has a wealth of experience in the development of new colonies, and after the new colonies of Colombia have achieved their predetermined goals, they will be included in the new province management one by one.

Just like the current Andean Governor, the demarcation of the various regions under his jurisdiction has begun, and the boundaries of provinces, cities, towns, and the ownership of local land rights and interests will be finalized.

After several years of planning, it was logical to establish new provinces under the jurisdiction of the empire.

After completing its historic mission, the Andean Viceroyalty will finally come to a perfect end and become a transitional institution during the colonial period.

Whether or not to retain the honorary title of Governor of the Andes is not a matter of concern.

Early 1875

The changes in the East Asian state of God attracted the attention of Emperor Richard, and in addition to the assassination of Shinyuki Matsuda, the prime minister of the second government of Fuso, there were several other events.

It is now the fifth year that King Shotai of the Ryukyus has married Princess Jingxian, who ranked third in the Tang Empire.

After giving birth to her eldest daughter, Sangju-joo, Princess Jingxian finally gave birth to a male son for the Ryukyu royal family, and soon after the full moon, she was made the crown prince and given the name Shangdong.

On the occasion of the Lunar New Year, the Ryukyu royal family has sent good news, and the Tang royal family immediately gave a heavy gift.

The marriage between the Tang royal family and the Ryukyu royal family of the vassal state closely linked the two countries together, with more bonds and family affection between each other, which is a typical royal political marriage.

This year, Amami Oshima officially broke away from the Ryukyu Kingdom and formed a new Amami Kingdom, and the islanders pleaded with a prince of the empire to become king, and they were allowed to do so.

After some selection, His Royal Highness Don Lee, Duke of Alaska, the fourth prince of the Imperial Princess and Lady Wang (Wang Manzhi), went to the Amami Kingdom and became king.

Not all princes are willing to go to a remote island to be kings, and this beauty falls on the 4th prince.

His Royal Highness Don Leedian, Duke of Alaska, devoted almost all of his purchases to various equipment and materials, plus a large number of materials rewarded by the royal family, formed a large fleet of more than 30 ocean-going ships, accompanied by more than 2,700 people.

The last major event is that the Qing court minister Zuo Zongtang's proposal of "Haisai and camp" was finally approved by Emperor Guangxu, in the edict on March 10;

"Zuo Zongtang must coordinate the overall situation and state his own opinions", "Once the customs are withdrawn, it is difficult to protect the barriers", "It is impossible to close the door and defend itself"

Encouraged by His Majesty's edict, Zuo Zongtang proposed in his early 1875 "Restoration of the Situation of Coastal Defense and Suppression of Grain Transportation Outside the Guanxi": "The east is coastal defense, and the west is defense, and both are equally important", and it is not possible to "support the east side and turn the west side".

Zuo Zongshang proposed;

Military spending in the northwest is already very tight, and there is no surplus to allocate to coastal defense.

If Xinjiang is not recovered, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Qing army will be pinned down for a long time, and not only will it not be able to reduce its military salaries and help coastal defense, but it will also be "self-retreating, and we will retreat and advance."

Xinjiang is not a barren land, but there is the possibility of proper management and long-term persistence, and if "suppression and appeasement are carried out at the same time" and "grain and transportation are planned at the same time", there is much to be done to recover Xinjiang.

Because his power was being held hostage, he vehemently criticized Jing Lian, the minister of the Qincha who supervised the military affairs of Xinjiang at that time, and Yuan Baoheng, who assisted in the grain transportation to the west, saying that they "were in their positions but did not seek their own politics", and asked for the two to be transferred, which was also granted.

Soon after

Zuo Zongtang was appointed as the minister of the Qincha and had full authority to supervise the military affairs of Xinjiang, and Jin Shun was the commander of Urumqi and assisted in the military affairs of Xinjiang.

The news of the military situation from the Shenzhou Continent came as soon as possible, which made Emperor Richard very excited, and immediately made relevant arrangements.

The first thing is to select some outstanding officers from the German army through covert channels and send them to the Hunan army in an ingenious way, so as to further improve the combat effectiveness of the old-style army.

The second thing was to organize a batch of a large number of munitions, including about 12,000 smoothbore rifles, 45 Napoleonic field guns, and 800 barrels of black powder, to the mainland in the name of "serving the Qing Dynasty" by Chinese businessmen in Europe, with a total value of about 450,000 Tang Yuan.

These arms and military aid do not have the shadow of the Tang Empire from beginning to end, and they act very carefully, so as not to be over-interpreted by the outside world, but they are not beautiful.

The third thing is that the General Directorate of Imperial Security has established a stable channel of communication with the minister, and has put forward a request that it "annihilate the rebels of Aguba and drive out the Russian and British forces", and said that it "will give all necessary assistance and will not be known to the outside world." ”

The fourth thing is to provide Zuo Zongtang with comprehensive European political, economic, and military intelligence to help him study and judge the general trend of the international trend, especially on the part of Tsarist Russia.

This includes the past and present of the first 9 Russo-Turkish wars, historical grievances and territorial changes, etc., a series of extremely detailed confidential internal information, which cannot be seen in the Eastern Empire at all.

For an outstanding commander-in-chief, this valuable intelligence help is even more important than munitions, avoiding miscalculation of the situation.

The current Qing court is a blind man touching an elephant, there are no ministers who are really proficient in Western affairs, and they have little understanding of the international situation and the situation in Europe, so it is inevitable that there will be no deviations in policy.

With the blessing of these arms and intelligence, as a chess player who is secretly arranged, Emperor Richard would like to see what kind of answer Zuo Zongtang can hand over?

Is it to fight hard with the Tsarist Russian army on the battlefield, and is it capable of recovering the homeland outside the Alashan Pass, or even further?