Chapter 546 Permission
Beiping.
"Your Excellency Li, you also know that our East African economic interests in the Far East are growing. In particular, German businessmen have built a large number of factories and facilities in the Far East. At the same time, the demand for trade volume in East Africa and the Far East Empire is also getting higher and higher, so we hope A transit station can be established in Ryukyu, a subsidiary country of your country, to ensure the safety of ships passing through East Africa and at the same time provide convenience for the development of trade between the two countries." The East African ambassador approached Li Hongzhang and said bluntly.
At this time, Li Hongzhang was really troubled by the issue of the Southern Ryukyu Islands or the Ryukyu Islands as a whole, especially Japan, a short and rebellious country that had no concealment of its wolfish ambitions towards the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Li Hongzhang sighed and said, "Ambassador Richard, it's not that I don't want to help you solve the problem. The current situation in the Ryukyu Kingdom is quite complicated, especially since Japan ignored international rules and directly invaded the Ryukyu Kingdom and illegally manipulated Ryukyu politics. To be honest, Japan , now we can no longer be the masters of the Ryukyu Kingdom government.”
“I heard that Japan only occupies the central and northern part of Ryukyu, and they do not control the southern area, so we don’t care about Japan and Ryukyu’s attitude. As long as your country nods and agrees, that’s fine.”
Li Hongzhang looked at Richard with a suspicious face. Ryukyu is now a land of right and wrong, and East Africa just wants to plunge into it.
"Your country really has the magnanimity of a big country, but I still advise you to think twice before you act. Japan has always been a country that feeds unfamiliar people and is narrow-minded. If your country builds a special economic zone in the Southern Ryukyu Islands, I'm afraid they may really find You are in trouble."
Richard said nonchalantly: "Your Excellency Li is also the head of the Imperial Navy. I think you also know how strong our East African Navy is. In the face of absolute strength, Japan is nothing but a clown. If they dare to offend Germany, then the navies of the three countries will be defeated." Dare to go to Edo for inspection."
East Africa has never fought alone in the Far East. The commercial interests of Germany and Austria in the Far East were largely protected by East Africa.
This is really not an exaggeration. The influence of the German and Austrian navies on the Far Eastern Empire is very weak. After all, Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, the two major transportation routes, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea are all firmly controlled by the British Royal Navy.
East Africa is different. The only thing that can block the connection between East Africa and the Far East is the Strait of Malacca. The Strait of Malacca is controlled by the United Kingdom, but the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb and Cape Town are also controlled by East Africa.
Each side has its own leverage, so the British cannot do too much to East Africa. If East Africa and the British are really deadlocked, India will be in a very dangerous situation.
And India is the Achilles heel of the United Kingdom. Even if East Africa cuts off the connection between India and the British mainland in a short period of time, it may trigger major changes in the world structure.
After all, the UK has more than one enemy in East Africa. If East Africa does this, other countries are likely to follow suit, even if the probability is very small. This is unacceptable to the UK. Regarding India, the UK's attitude must be foolproof.
Hearing that East Africa had once again roped in Germany and Austria, Li Hongzhang felt very complicated. He recalled the history of being deceived by East Africa.
In the past, when East Africa was still an insignificant colony, it used the tiger skin of Germany to defraud many privileges from the Far Eastern Empire.
As the Far Eastern Empire learned more about East Africa, they realized that they had been deceived. At that time, East Africa did not represent Germany at all. The so-called Princely Kingdom of Hechingen was even more insignificant in Germany, and the surname Hohenzollern It was also deceptive, causing Emperor Tongzhi to mistakenly believe that the Hechingen royal family was similar to the princes of the Far East and could represent the Prussian government.
However, with the development of East Africa in recent years, especially the defeat of Portugal, the naval strength has entered the top ten in the world, and the Far Eastern Empire can only hold its nose and admit it.
Of course, although East Africa is not kind, it has a good relationship with the Far Eastern Empire. After all, East Africa is not like the United Kingdom and other countries. Other colonial countries are really too aggressive towards the Far Eastern Empire. In the final analysis, East Africa only took advantage of the Far Eastern Empire's lack of understanding of the West, so its own diplomats could only take the blame. The Far Eastern Empire's modern diplomacy started very late, and the earliest overseas students were all sent in the 1970s. , and the fraud in East Africa further inspired the Far Eastern Empire to explore and understand the Western world.
It would be such a shame if another Western country tries to succeed next time, but let alone, after the experience of being defrauded by East Africa, the Far Eastern Empire has a lot of influence on small countries such as Greece, Portugal, Belgium, Italy... gained great awareness.
Poor Portugal was directly classified as a small country because of the Eastern-Portuguese War. From now on, it would be difficult for Portuguese merchants to bluff and cheat in the Far Eastern Empire.
“Ambassador Richard, we can allow your country to develop the Southern Ryukyu Islands, but accordingly, Japan’s troubles will have to be borne by your country yourself.”
Li Hongzhang really had no choice. His navy had not yet grown up. Of course, there was another important reason. That was that the navy was his lifeblood and he could not afford to lose it. It was better to let East Africa and Japan eat dogs.
“Hahaha, no problem. As long as your country agrees, the rest will be left to us in East Africa, and we will never embarrass your country.”
East Africa moved very quickly. Although it would take some time for its own ironclad ships to pass, East Africa had many merchant ships in the Far East. After obtaining permission from the Far East Empire, they directly and blatantly transported troops and supplies to the Southern Ryukyu Islands.
The military strength is easy to explain. In the Far Eastern Empire, you must have security personnel, and local forces and bureaucrats are not vegetarians. Ernst knows them well anyway, and you cannot be polite when cooperating with them, otherwise no bones will be left.
East Africa's excuse is at least not problematic. It protects East Africa's commercial interests in the Far East, so it needs to find an island in the Pacific as an economic development zone.
In other words, it is a colony similar to a concession. After all, the Ryukyu Kingdom is just a satellite country of the Far East and has not yet been taken too seriously by the Far Eastern Empire.
Of course, the main reason is that East Africa has no criminal record. Although two special economic zones have been established in the Far East, it is only to facilitate business and investment in East Africa and to avoid competition with other countries. In these two special economic zones, East Africa has There are some privileges, but other important rights are still in the hands of the Far Eastern Empire. Only in terms of economics, the Far Eastern Empire has to negotiate with East Africa.
This time, the Far Eastern Empire thought that East Africa's model for the Southern Ryukyu Islands was the same as the two special economic zones, and that it could also make Japan take action.
However, neither the Far Eastern Empire nor Japan could have imagined that East Africa was aiming to rule the Southern Ryukyu Islands, and that it would establish itself as a subsidiary power in East Africa.
The East African government directly ordered merchant ships from the Zhuhai Trade Zone to go to the Southern Ryukyu Islands to start building military bases. The East African army and navy will directly move in in the future.
When Japan reacts, the armored fleet from East Africa will also pass by. In this era, Japan's nose has not yet reached the sky, and it still has to pretend to be a grandson in front of foreigners.
In fact, the Southern Ryukyu Islands are not close to Japan. Otherwise, according to Japan's character, it would not be at odds with the Far Eastern Empire. Although East Africa is far from the Southern Ryukyu Islands, with the help of the Far Eastern Empire and Lanfang Overseas Province, it is easy to control the Southern Ryukyu Islands. Not too strenuous.
(End of this chapter)