Chapter 263: Lingding Ocean (4k)
"Thank you very much! Thank God for giving me a friend like you!"
Kamehameha III was a little flattered in addition to being happy.
It was good enough that the great powers came to the Kingdom of Hawaii without robbing or forcing the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii to sign an unequal treaty. It was the first time that they gave him a gift, and a relatively heavy gift.
The natives of Hawaii originally believed in primitive religions. Since the colonists arrived in Hawaii under the banner of missionary work, the natives of Hawaii had to abandon their primitive beliefs and turn to Christianity.
The attitude of the Kamehameha royal family towards Christianity was also positive. They hoped to have an equal dialogue with the white colonists by sharing the same faith with them.
But this was just the wishful thinking of the Kamehameha royal family.
The reason why the white people did not treat the Kingdom of Hawaii equally was not because the natives of Hawaii were pagans, but because they were weak and could be bullied.
"We are friends, no need to be polite." Liang Yao said calmly.
He was quite polite to the Hawaiian royal family, but it was not out of sympathy for the weak, but out of fear of Britain and France, so he had to take a relatively gentle approach to the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Kamehameha royal family.
Of course, this is also the attitude of Washington, the United States, towards the Kingdom of Hawaii: do not offend Britain and France, maintain sufficient influence in the Kingdom of Hawaii, do not allow a fourth country to intervene in the Kingdom of Hawaii, and then wait and see what happens and wait for an opportunity to act.
In terms of annexing territory, American politicians still have enough patience.
Take the Texas region for example. In fact, after the United States successfully purchased the Louisiana region from France in 1803, American politicians headed by the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, had already begun to plan to annex the Texas region.
It was only until the eleventh President Polk that the plan was ripe.
In the century since the founding of the United States, many territories have been annexed, but generally speaking, these annexations were planned and premeditated.
When the United States annexed Texas, the number of American immigrants in Texas had already exceeded that of Mexico. When it annexed Hawaii, American immigrants had already had a great influence in Hawaii.
The United States has been reluctant to annex Hawaii, not because of kindness or indecision, but because it is just waiting for the right time.
"The relationship between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United States has always been very friendly and harmonious. I wonder why you two brought so many warships this time?"
Although Kamehameha III was happy to receive the gift he liked, he was not a king who was obsessed with things. He was still wary of the American warships entering Pearl Harbor.
"The American Group has the right to operate Pearl Harbor for 20 years. The American Group is an American company. It is reasonable to provide services for American ships passing by." Liang Yao frowned and said.
"Of course, of course. I just don't know why the American fleet is setting sail with such fanfare. Are they going to send troops to Japan?"
Faced with Liang Yao's remarks, Kamehameha III did not dare to say much.
He couldn't afford to offend the British, the French, the Americans, and even the Japanese.
Kamehameha III had seen many British and French fleets traveling to Hawaii, but this was the first time that American warships appeared in Hawaii.
Kamehameha III was not someone who was oblivious to international affairs. Recently, he had also heard about the news that the United States had unilaterally declared war on Japan.
Kamehameha III speculated that the United States was going to send troops to Japan.
He heard the news that the United States had declared war on Japan from the British and French, but the British and French did not take it seriously, so this matter did not cause much waves.
The British were particularly disdainful after learning about this, believing that the United States was imitating the United States by using powerful ships and cannons to open the door of the Qing Dynasty eleven years ago.
The more arrogant British Royal Navy generals believed that the United States, as a country with only a second- or third-rate navy, did not have the ability to fight across the ocean, and were not optimistic about the United States' actions.
You should know that when Britain fought against the Qing Dynasty, although the main force was drawn from the mainland, Britain had the colony of India in Asia as an outpost to provide logistical support for the Royal Navy.
The United States has no colonies overseas, and California, the closest to Japan in the United States, is tens of thousands of nautical miles away from the Japanese archipelago, which is a great test for logistics.
"You are well-informed." Liang Yao said indifferently.
It is no secret that the United States declared war on Japan, and there is no problem of leaking secrets. Liang Yao can satisfy Kamehameha III's curiosity.
Of course, Liang Yao could not reveal the specific military strength and armaments to Kamehameha III.
There are many Japanese immigrants in the Hawaiian Islands, and who knows if there are spies from the Japanese shogunate authorities lurking here.
Although Liang Yao did not tell Kamehameha III the answer directly, from Liang Yao's few words, Kamehameha III already had the answer in his mind, that the destination of this American fleet is Japan.
Kamehameha III hesitated for a moment, and then said to Liang Yao: "I want my nephew to follow your fleet to see the world."
"You have to ask General Perry, General Perry is the supreme commander." Liang Yao glanced at the sad Kamehameha III and said.
After thinking about it, Perry felt that this was a good opportunity for the United States to show off its strength to the Kingdom of Hawaii, so he agreed to Kamehameha III's request.
"I have no objection in principle, but the entourage is limited to members of the Kamehameha royal family."
"That's natural, that's natural." Kamehameha III forced a smile on his face and nodded.
After the soldiers of the navy and army rested in the camp at Pearl Harbor for three days, the fleet set off from Pearl Harbor with supplies.
Sven drove Liang Yao's ship Roland to take charge of the navigation, and sailed towards Guangzhou on the route he was familiar with.
It was not a wise move to rashly knock on Edo (today's Tokyo, Japan) when the people were tired and the ship was exhausted.
In history, Perry did not knock on Edo directly when he knocked on Japan. The last supply point of Perry's American East India Fleet was Shanghai, China.
Perry also took the final rest in Shanghai before setting off for Edo.
The troops and lineup of this knock on Japan were obviously more luxurious and powerful than in history.
However, the army officers and soldiers on board were all suffering from severe seasickness. After all, these soldiers had received regular army training, and their experience in crossing the sea and fighting across the ocean was far less than that of the serious marines. Before the war, it was necessary to give them some time to rest and adjust their condition.
At the end of June 1852, Liang Yao's fleet and Perry's fleet arrived at Lingdingyang.
Lingdingyang, also known as Lingdingyang, is located outside the Pearl River Estuary and is a trumpet-shaped estuary bay. The range of Lingdingyang starts from Humen in the north and reaches Hong Kong and Macau in the south. The Lingdingyang in the Humen section is relatively narrow, with a width of about 4 kilometers.
Humen is the key to entering the Guangzhou area. As long as Humen is guarded, the enemy's warships cannot enter the Pearl River Estuary to threaten Guangzhou.
During the Opium War, Lin Zexu realized the military value of Humen, and the Humen Fort was a military facility that he focused on operating.
The fleet entering Humen is equivalent to entering the Pearl River and entering Guangzhou.
Both Liang Yao's fleet and Perry's fleet have warships. If they want to enter the transnational Humen and swim upstream, the Guangzhou authorities will definitely not agree.
Of course, it is not impossible to force their way through Humen and reach Guangzhou directly, but there is no need to do so.
The purpose of Liang Yao and Perry's trip is to use force to deter Japan from signing a treaty to open a country. He does not need to cause trouble in the Qing Dynasty, which will not benefit him.
Liang Yao's ship repair shop in Guangzhou is located in his hometown Xiangshan, which is probably located in Zhuhai in the future. It faces Macau across the sea to the south and Hong Kong Island across the sea to the east.
Xiangshan is outside the mouth of the Pearl River and is still some distance away from Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province. The Guangdong authorities are not so sensitive about this place.
As for why Liang Yao opened the ship repair shop in the Qing Dynasty in Xiangshan instead of Shanghai, which has more potential in the future, the reason is also very simple.
First of all, he is from Xiangshan and is familiar with more Guangdong and Fujian merchants.
Secondly, immigrants to California mainly come from Guangdong and Fujian. The business atmosphere in Guangdong and Fujian is relatively strong. There is a long tradition of immigrants going overseas to make a living, and there is not much psychological burden on immigrants.
As for the third reason, the Yangtze River Delta region will soon be affected by the war.
The waterway at the mouth of the Pearl River is very busy, with a constant stream of merchant ships coming and going.
It’s just that the merchant ships leaving the Pearl River Estuary are loaded with Chinese local products and silver, while the merchant ships entering the Pearl River Estuary are full of opium.
Before the Opium War, opium was still smuggled into the Pearl River Estuary, imported into Guangzhou, and then imported from Guangzhou to inland areas such as Jiangxi and the two lakes.
Now this route for importing opium still exists, but opium dealers do not need to load opium onto the fast crab boats known for their speed and smuggle it to Guangzhou. They can directly drive large ships to transport opium into Guangzhou openly.
However, the life of these opium dealers in Guangzhou is not as good as before. Although they smuggled in secret before, Guangzhou was the only port for foreign trade of the Qing Dynasty and monopolized foreign trade.
Now there are five ports for trade, and the opium imported from Guangzhou to Jiangxi and the two lakes region still faces competition from its counterparts in Shanghai.
The opium dealers in Shanghai can use the Yangtze River waterway to import opium to inland areas more conveniently.
Under the condition of the same quality of the source of goods, the opium in Shanghai is more competitive than the opium in Guangzhou.
"When Lord Lin destroyed opium in Humen, he hoped that this poison would be banned in China from then on. I didn't expect that the opium trade today would be worse than that during the Daoguang period."
Such a scene made Deng Yan, who had personally experienced the Opium War, sigh.
He did not smoke opium, but he had seen many people who broke their families because of smoking opium.
There were many officers and soldiers who smoked opium in the Guangdong Navy where he served. What's more, when they participated in the war, the soldiers who smoked opium couldn't even stand steadily, and the officers were even worse. Some were carried to the battlefield in sedan chairs.
"If you want to ban opium in China, it's not enough to have only one Lord Lin." Liang Yao couldn't help showing a bitter smile on his face.
Not to mention one Lin Zexu, even if there were ten or a hundred Lin Zexu, they might not be able to ban the opium trade.
The Anglo-Saxons have always been very cunning and snobbish. Only when your strength is strong enough, so strong that the Anglo-Saxons have to weigh the consequences before making a decision, will the Anglo-Saxons abide by your rules and dare not mess around. Otherwise, everything is just empty talk.
Liang Yao looked solemnly at the merchant ships of various countries traveling between the Pearl River Estuary. There are not many steamships in the Far East, so most of the merchant ships seen in the Pearl River Reservoir are sailing ships.
Most foreign merchant ships fly the Union Jack of the British Empire. In addition to the Union Jack, the most common flag is the tricolor flag of the Second French Republic.
The rest are merchant ships from countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal.
This is not good news for the Qing Dynasty. Once the great powers form a community of interests, it will be too late to dismantle the community of interests of the great powers.
It's a pity that in the Qing Dynasty, which pretended to be asleep, most officials across the country did not notice this serious problem after the bitter lessons of the Opium War.
From the central government to the local governments, the attitude towards opium has been completely rotten, and the anti-smoking order during the Daoguang period has long become a dead letter.
Some places even openly planted poppies under the idea that it is better for us to make money by ourselves than for foreigners to make money. A scene of competition between local and foreign tobacco has formed.
Because local officials accepted bribes, their attitude towards the planting of poppies among the people is no longer as simple as turning a blind eye, but directly providing protection for these big opium dealers.
It was impossible to completely ban opium under the corrupt Qing government.
The arrival of Liang Yao's fleet and Perry's East India Fleet caused quite a stir in Guangdong.
The attitude of the people towards this matter was more curious, while the attitude of the Guangdong government was anxious.
In the magnificent Guangdong Fantai Yamen, Guangdong Governor Ye Mingchen and Governor Xu Guangjin sat in the lobby.
"It is really abominable that the secret societies and bandits took advantage of the chaos of the Taiping Rebellion. Now the foreigners are making trouble again. Since I took office, I have not had a peaceful day.
Jinghou (Governor Xu Guangjin, with the name Jinghou), the burden of Guangdong is on your shoulders. In this troubled time, you and I must work together."
Ye Mingchen complained first, and then said to Xu Guangjin.
"Ye Shaobao and Xu are people in the same boat, so we should work together." Xu Guangjin sat upright and said to Ye Mingchen.
"I have dealt with foreigners from all over the world, but I mainly dealt with the English, followed by the French. As for the Americans, I know very little about them.
Does Ye Shaobao have any good strategies to deal with these Americans?"
Ye Mingchen stroked his beard and felt very comfortable with this title.
Ye Mingchen's resume is very impressive, and he also boasts that he knows military affairs.
It's just that his military exploits are really not up to par, and his military exploits are all bandit suppression.
In 1850 (the 30th year of Daoguang), the bandits in Yingde County were pacified.
In 1851 (the first year of Xianfeng), the bandits of Luo Jinghui were suppressed, and the bandit leader Wu San was executed. The Qing court was very happy, so it conferred Ye Mingchen the title of Prince Shaobao.
As usual, the Qing court would not give such a high official title for bandit suppression. Ye Mingchen's luck was really ridiculous. Last year was the time when the God Worshipping Society officially started the uprising.
Because local officials concealed the truth, the high-ranking officials of the Qing Dynasty in the capital city had some discrepancies between their judgment of the bandit problem in Guangxi and the reality, and believed that it was just a group of bandits causing trouble.
Therefore, they did not take it too seriously. It was not until the Qing army's anti-bandit operations were repeatedly frustrated and the people below could no longer conceal the truth that the key officials in the Forbidden City realized the seriousness of the matter.
And Ye Mingchen's victory report came at the right time.
This anti-bandit war report inspired the high-ranking officials of the Qing Dynasty, and Emperor Xianfeng was so happy that he directly conferred Ye Mingchen the title of Prince's Guardian.