Chapter 621: Get a Piece of the Pie

Out of respect for the Hawaiian royal family, Friedrich chose to go to the palace for an audience.

In fact, Kamehameha III waited for a long time outside the temporary camp of the Austrian army, but was politely invited back by the Austrian diplomats.

When Friedrich's team arrived in front of the Hawaiian Royal Palace, Kamehameha III and the queen had been waiting at the door for a long time.

After a brief and grand ceremony, Friedrich came to the palace, accompanied by a team of guards and two diplomats.

First, diplomatic relations were established as a routine, and then Friedrich talked about Fanar.

"The 30-year land development agreement signed by our merchants and your subjects has only been sublet to others in the past two years, and your subjects have refused to compensate. I hope you can exercise your power fairly."

Kamehameha III was stunned. He didn't expect that the civilians in his country were so fierce. They dared to set traps for people who he didn't dare to offend.

"How about this? To show my friendship to the Austrian Empire, I, Kamehameha III, formally grant your country consular jurisdiction over Hawaiian land. What do you think?"

Friedrich and the other two diplomats were confused. They actually thought of a lot of ways to make them comply. It seems that the other party is familiar with it and willing to cooperate. It seems that they can save a lot of trouble.

The entire negotiation was within Franz's plan. A slap in the face and a sweet date can form a virtuous circle.

The Austrian Empire immediately proposed to develop Pearl Bay. Pearl Harbor is located on Huva Island and is named after its abundant pearls.

It's just that the fishermen's mining efficiency is too low. At the same time, due to the special situation of the Kingdom of Hawaii, King Kamehameha III cannot benefit from it.

So when the Austrians made this suggestion, Kamehameha III's eyes immediately lit up, because the financial situation of the Kingdom of Hawaii was really bad.

Especially after the land was distributed to the people, the country's tax revenue almost collapsed, and the government's income almost all came from the royal family's own land and port taxes.

Franz was targeting this weakness. The fiscal revenue of the entire Hawaiian Kingdom was less than 50,000 US dollars, while the annual turnover of Hawaiian pearl trade was more than 150,000 US dollars.

How could this not make Kamehameha III jealous? The Austrian Empire promised that as long as the latter contracted Pearl Bay, the former would not have to pay a penny and could share 50,000 US dollars in profits every year.

That would double the national finances. Kamehameha III immediately grabbed Friedrich's hand with red eyes and wanted to kneel down and swear brotherhood.

You must know that pearl mining in this era requires a lot of manpower, and in order to protect its own interests, it is necessary to prevent others from stealing, which is a considerable expense.

Then there is the transportation and sale of pearls. Hawaiians can't afford this thing. The actual situation is that everyone can dig it themselves, so who would buy it?

Since Hawaii is a small country in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, if you want to sell it, you must cross the vast ocean.

This was almost impossible in the eyes of Hawaiians at the time. In fact, when Europeans first crossed the ocean, the local natives regarded them as gods.

Moreover, maritime transportation has a long cycle and uncertainty. If the ship capsizes, it will be a total loss, or if the market is not good, it will also be a loss.

These risks are unbearable for Kamehameha III and any Hawaiian. If it were not for his advisers to explain to him, he would not even know that those small pearls could be sold at such a high price on the other side of the ocean.

So Kamehameha III was very satisfied with the Austrian proposal at this time, and even felt a little guilty, but this emotion soon disappeared because the Austrian side put forward new conditions.

The Austrian Empire wanted to recommend a customs director, just like other Westerners, Franz also needed to have a share in the Hawaiian government.

Although the position of customs director is much less powerful than the positions of finance minister and justice minister, the voice of the customs director in the primitive government of the Hawaiian Kingdom is not small.

Of course, the powers at this time had not noticed this, and Kamehameha III readily agreed to this seemingly insignificant position.

At this time, Kamehameha III could not imagine that his kingdom would rely on this institution to continue in the future.

As for the development of Pearl Bay, pearling was just a cover. Franz's goal was to control Pearl Harbor, a precious naval base in the Pacific.

Pearl Harbor stretches out to the inland of Hawaii like an open eagle's claw. It is located at the lowest point of the plain between the Kolau Mountains and the Waianae Mountains on the south coast of Oahu Island. It is adjacent to the only deep-water port, the Port of Honolulu, and is also one of the largest and best safe berthing ports in the North Pacific Islands.

The reality is that it is now one of the most important ports in the United States in the Pacific.

Of course, even if only pearls are developed, Austria can still make money. At this time, the decline in pearl mining on Hawaii Island is actually related to the plague prevalent on the island.

However, these germs can only infect local indigenous people, and have little effect on Westerners and Orientals. Franz can use the laborers of the Southern Ming Dynasty to mine pearls, which can be regarded as finding them another way to get rich.

In addition, the mining efficiency of the Southern Ming laborers is much higher than that of the indigenous people. At the same time, they are easier to train and will not take out pearls too roughly, resulting in a decline in quality.

In addition to mining, Austria also has artificial breeding technology, which can also increase production. Moreover, Hawaiian pearls are of good quality and highly recognized in the market. They are not the goods that are difficult to sell as those unscrupulous merchants say.

At the same time, Franz also has enough funds to buy the goods and ensure that they are sold at the value they deserve.

The first Director General of Customs was given to Thomas Fanar. After all, it is not important who does it, but which country the position belongs to.

After leaving the palace, Friedrich led his troops to find the native family, but the other party did not seem to intend to communicate and shot an accompanying officer with a bow and arrow.

Friedrich was not the kind of person who would not fight back or scold. He immediately ordered a counterattack. The bloody battle lasted for a day and a night.

The combat effectiveness of the Polynesians was not covered. A total of more than 20 Austrian soldiers were killed and injured. This made Friedrich very angry. You know, he brought the elite of the elite, but they were killed and injured by a group of natives.

Fortunately, the two adjutants dissuaded the Archduke from further escalating the incident in time, but this also forced Friedrich to consider the horror of jungle warfare.

He had always been lucky enough to think that the British on Kalimantan were small fry, and that it was negligence that led to their annihilation. Franz's speculation about jungle warfare was nothing but alarmist.

But after calming down, Friedrich began to rethink the matter, but soon he came to another conclusion.

"Since jungle warfare is so terrible, wouldn't it be better for me to be the ambush party?"