Chapter 222: Manifest Destiny

Pastor Brown once suggested that Morrison School send outstanding students of Morrison School to study abroad in universities in Europe and America.

Unfortunately, the largest shareholder behind Morrison School is the British East India Company, which has no interest in sending outstanding students of Morrison School to study in universities in Europe and America.

According to the requirements of the British East India Company, it is enough for these students to complete their secondary education. And sending these students to study abroad in higher education institutions in Europe and America is not a cost-effective deal.

Pastor Brown was deeply dissatisfied with Morrison School for this reason. He believed that education is to educate people, not a business. Soon after, Pastor Brown, who was frustrated, resigned from Morrison School and returned to America.

Liang Yao took these students to America for further studies, which can be regarded as making up for Pastor Brown's original regret.

When they came to the students' residence, the older students quickly recognized Pastor Brown and came forward to greet him.

"Pastor Brown."

"Sir."

Pastor Brown looked at these students very happily and called out their names one by one.

He was very surprised by the changes in these students. Compared with Hong Kong, the mental outlook of these students has changed dramatically.

Even their bodies have become stronger, and their English has become more fluent.

After visiting these students, Pastor Brown said to Liang Yao very happily: "I am very happy to see the changes in these students. Compared with when they were in Hong Kong, these students are more lively and more confident. They are very smart and will definitely be pillars of society in the future."

"In the future, students who study at Monson School will be fostered in various families in Massachusetts. You will need to worry about them in the future.

I will return to California soon, and there are still many things waiting for me to deal with there." Liang Yao said.

Liang Yao has found suitable foster families for 20 students studying at Hartford High School in New York State.

These students are fostered in various middle-class families in New York State. The male owners of these families are also engaged in decent jobs such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers.

After hearing that Liang Yao was going to place 20 Chinese students in foster homes, these families in New York showed considerable enthusiasm, and many wrote to express their willingness to adopt these students.

Finally, Liang Yao selected 20 families with better conditions to place these students.

Placing these students in these families can also help them improve their language skills and better adapt to life in the eastern United States.

For the 20 students who will be sent to Monson Middle School, Liang Yao also plans to adopt this model and choose middle-class families in Massachusetts for foster care.

With this model, he only needs to leave a few reliable persons in New York and Massachusetts to supervise the learning progress of these students from time to time, which is also less troublesome.

"I will treat these students like my own children." Pastor Brown said.

In 1845, on the eve of the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, American journalist John O'Sullivan published an article titled "Annexation" in the magazine "Democratic Review", advocating expansion to the Pacific region and turning America into a superpower empire with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

This view still had a considerable audience in 1851, six years later.

Liang Yao published two articles in newspapers such as the New York Evening Post and the New York Herald. One was "Manifest Destiny", which was based on the theory of destiny, and the other was "Go South, America", which pointed the spearhead directly at northern Mexico.

He used these two articles to test the waters and test the reaction of the American people.

What surprised Liang Yao was that although the Mexican-American War had just ended not long ago, the American people and politicians still had great enthusiasm for continued expansion.

America has never been against war, but only against defeat.

The turbulent situation in Mexico and the reaction of the American people and politicians made Liang Yao feel that there was great potential for annexing Mexican territory.

"Your article is very well written. I agree with your views. If you want to strengthen the connection between the southern and western territories, you must build a complete railway system, especially the railway between California and Texas, and you must obtain the northern territory of Mexico."

James Gadsden, a large slave owner in Charleston, South Carolina, and also the best candidate for the next US ambassador to Mexico in the political circle, spoke highly of Liang Yao's article.

The words in these two articles almost touched his heart, and Gadsden felt that he had met a soulmate.

"Your words really touched my heart."

Many of the views in these articles came from Gadsden. Liang Yao just systematized and concretized them with the view of destiny, which seemed more noble and feasible, and of course touched Gadsden's heart.

The diplomatic environment of the United States in the 19th century was relatively simple, with only two neighboring countries around it, and Canada to the north was still a colony of the British Empire.

The only sovereign neighbor of the United States that is truly bordered by land is actually Mexico.

Therefore, among the American ambassadors abroad, the United States attaches no less importance to the ambassador to Mexico than to the ambassadors to Britain and France.

The State Department has always attached great importance to the position of ambassador to Mexico.

Gadsden is the best candidate for the ambassador to Mexico, so he is naturally not an ordinary person and must have his own outstanding qualities.

"No matter how good the idea is, it is just a beautiful idea." Liang Yao said, "If you want to put it into practice, you still need the support of the federal government."

"I have discussed with Secretary of State Webster about buying the five northern states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Nuevo León and the Baja California Peninsula from Mexico. Webster is very interested in this matter.

The southern states, especially Texas, are particularly interested in this matter." Gadsden said.

"I have also sounded out Mexico. The Mexican government is in financial difficulties. They do not object to selling land to alleviate the financial crisis. The biggest problem is the price."

Liang Yao can understand that Texas is interested in the territory in northern Mexico. California and Texas are the only two states in the United States that directly border Mexico. If they can annex the northern territory of Mexico.

The biggest beneficiaries are California and Texas, and the land that Texas previously assigned to the territorial area by the federal government for the construction of a new state can also be compensated by Mexico, which is not a bad thing for Texas.

"How much is the price offered by Mexico?" Liang Yao asked Gadsden curiously.

This guy has sounded out Mexico, so he must have some understanding of the land purchase price.

"If you want to buy the five northern states of Mexico and Baja California, it will cost at least 50 million US dollars." Gadsden made a five gesture.

"50 million US dollars, it's better to rob directly. The military expenses of fighting the Mexican army don't necessarily need 5 million US dollars."

After hearing this price, Liang Yao instantly lost interest in buying.

The land purchase plan proposed by Gadsden is about 830,000 square kilometers of Mexican territory, which is equivalent to 5 times the current area of ​​California (including western Nevada).

If it can be bought for 50 million US dollars, it will definitely be worth it, but now the US federal government is also in debt and can't come up with 50 million US dollars. Not to mention the California state government.

After understanding the national conditions of Mexico, Liang Yao is not very willing to spend money to buy it.

If Mexico is united, with the size of Mexico, Liang Yao still dare not have any unreasonable thoughts.

However, the domestic situation in Mexico was turbulent, the regime was extremely unstable, and civil wars continued. The Mexican government's integration and organizational capabilities were worse than those of the Qing Dynasty at the same time.

This made it difficult for Liang Yao not to have ideas about Mexico.

"If the territorial issue could be solved directly by war, it would be great, but the federal government has not yet paid off the debt owed for the last Mexican War, and I'm afraid the president will not agree to go to war with Mexico." Gadsden smiled and said.

"Things that can be solved by diplomacy should be solved by diplomatic means. When getting along with neighboring countries, peace is still the most precious."

Liang Yao just thought it was funny. If the federal government really had 50 million US dollars now, Gadsden would not have said these nonsense.

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"As a powerful country, the United States must gain influence in the Far East that is equal to the strength of the United States."

After careful consideration, Fillmore put down the plan for the expedition to Japan and announced his decision to his cabinet members.

"Japan has repeatedly illegally detained and abused the crew of our American whaling ships. If we do not respond strongly to this incident, where will America's prestige in the international community be in the future? Where will America's face be? We must teach these arrogant and unreasonable Japanese monkeys a lesson and let them see the power of civilization."

After that, Fillmore showed the cabinet members the plan for the expedition to Japan provided by Liang Yao.

The expedition to Japan was jointly participated by the Navy and the Army.

The Navy was responsible for blockading the Japanese coastal waters, and the Army was responsible for landing to put pressure on the Japanese shogunate authorities, forcing the Japanese shogunate authorities to apologize and open up free trade with the United States.

On the Navy side, Commodore Perry led the fleet to San Francisco, California, where they resupplied and met with the California Infantry Regiment of Colonel Liang Yao, the commander of the California Army.

Both sides sailed to Hawaii, and after the final resupply in Hawaii, they headed straight for Edo, Japan.

Fillmore had already made arrangements with the Qing Dynasty's envoys. If they encountered any accidents during the journey, they could rest in Guangzhou Port of the Qing Dynasty.

Moreover, Liang Yao also had some connections in Guangdong and Fujian of the Qing Dynasty, and could obtain supplies from these places when necessary.

This plan was very comprehensive, and even the supply problem of the expeditionary force in the Far East, which Fillmore's cabinet was most worried about, was solved.

After reading the plan, the cabinet members expressed no objection.

"This expedition is coordinated by the navy and the army, and the navy and the army are not subordinate to each other. There can only be one commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force. Who will be the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force?"

Navy Secretary Daniel threw his question to Fillmore.