Chapter 430: Agent

The British attitude was ambiguous, and they stated that they were mediating the dispute between the United States and the Netherlands in the East Indies from an absolutely neutral and objective position.

The French simply stood on Liang Yao's side, urging Tevez to sign the contract immediately and restore peace to the East Indies.

The attitudes of Britain and France made the Dutch and Indostan authorities headed by Tevez feel desperate, a powerless despair.

At this time, their mood was heavy and bitter.

Britain and France are allies now, and they are wartime allies.

Although Tevez saw that the British were somewhat dissatisfied with Trommeran's firm stance on Liang Yao's side.

But Tevez could not use the British dissatisfaction to gain benefits for the Dutch and Indostan authorities.

Since Trommeran made a clear statement on behalf of France, even if the British representative, the Governor of Hong Kong, Bonham, was dissatisfied with the French statement, he could not stand on the opposite side of the ally and put the conflict between the two sides on the surface.

At present, the British and French coalition forces are fighting side by side in the Crimean Peninsula and the Balkans.

At this time, words that are not conducive to unity cannot be said, and things that are not conducive to unity cannot be done.

The greatest support that Bonham could give to Tevez, that is, the Dutch Indies colonial authorities, was to neither support nor oppose the French and maintain their absolute neutral position.

Tevez also knew that it was meaningless to continue to delay.

The next day, Tevez led the delegation back to the negotiation table.

Tevez raised his trembling right hand and signed his name on the "Pontianak Treaty" in disappointment.

He was the first governor of Batavia to sign such a humiliating treaty. He also knew that once he signed his name, what awaited him after returning home was endless spitting and abuse.

But he had no choice.

The signing of the "Pontianak Treaty" meant that the Dutch Indies colonial authorities finally failed to complete the last important puzzle of the East Indies, Borneo Island.

It also meant that the Dutch colonial expansion in the East Indies was forced to end.

The next issue that the Dutch Indies colonial authorities had to consider was not how to continue to expand their territory, but how to defend the existing colonies.

However, these are issues that the next Governor of Batavia has to worry about, and have nothing to do with Tevez.

Thinking of this, Tevez felt a little relieved.

Leaving this damn tropical smoky place with a bad reputation and returning to Europe to retire does not seem to be a particularly bad choice.

After the signing of the treaty, Tromeran was very happy to hand over the three active warships of the French Pacific Fleet and the crew responsible for training to Liang Yao after receiving the new land in Sarawak.

After getting these three new ships, Liang Yao felt a lot more relieved.

At least he didn't have to worry about someone messing with his damaged warships during this window period of repair.

In addition, Liang Yao also agreed to send a medical team to the Crimean Peninsula theater and the Balkan theater to provide medical services to the French army and assist the French army in defeating cholera.

In return, Tromeran also agreed to Liang Yao's request to send a military inspection team to the Near East for observation and study.

Tromeran also knew that even if he disagreed with Liang Yao sending a military expedition, Liang Yao would find ways to send his military expedition to the Middle East.

For example, disguising military personnel as medical personnel.

No one could stop Liang Yao from doing what he wanted.

Instead of hiding it, it would be better to sell a favor to Liang Yao directly, agree to Liang Yao's request openly, and get a favor.

What's more, the diplomatic relations between the United States and France are still friendly, and there is no sharp conflict of interest between the two sides.

The signing and entry into force of the "Pontianak Treaty" made the Chinese in Southeast Asia feel extremely excited.

These stateless people who drifted in a foreign country, who were not loved by their grandmothers and uncles, finally saw a ray of light in the darkness.

When occupying Pontianak earlier, Umbrella Company had already begun to publicize that as long as the Chinese in Southeast Asia joined the American nationality, Umbrella Company could provide them with personal safety.

It's just that the situation was still unclear at the time, and many Chinese in Southeast Asia heard the news.

But they were worried that once Liang Yao finally lost to the Dutch colonial authorities, those who joined American nationality would inevitably be retaliated by the Dutch colonial authorities.

Therefore, they were very cautious about naturalization and kept a wait-and-see attitude.

Only the Chinese who originally lived in Pontianak were more active in naturalization.

But now the dust has settled, and the Dutch have lost in this competition for Borneo Island.

The Chinese in Southeast Asia also recognized the strength of Liang Yao and his subordinate Umbrella Company from this war, and they had no worries at all.

More and more Chinese in Southeast Asia began to gather in Borneo, especially in West Borneo.

These Chinese not only have young and strong laborers who go out to sea to work hard to survive, but also merchants with a lot of money.

The arrival of these people has rapidly increased the population of large settlements such as Pontianak, East Wanlu, and Kendawangan, and also filled the gap after the withdrawal of Dutch merchants.

The Borneo region, which has restored peace, shows a scene of vitality and everything is competing.

After finishing the final work, Liang Yao officially handed over the power of the Borneo region to Deng Wenkang, and then boarded the Bold and led the returning fleet to Xiangshan.

Liang Yao finally returned to Xiangshan.

Liang Shaoqiong had already returned to Xiangshan from Yangzhou on a small steamer with a company of personal soldiers.

Even Deng Yan rushed to Xiangshan from Nagasaki.

When Liang Yao's fleet arrived at Xiangshan, the two had already been waiting for Liang Yao at the Xiangshan dock.

"Is your second uncle comfortable as the emperor in Japan?"

Liang Yao teased Deng Yan as soon as he got off the boat.

"No matter how comfortable the emperor is, it is not as comfortable as having your own home." Deng Yan said, looking at the land under his feet.

Compared to being the emperor feared by everyone in Japan, Deng Yan still prefers his hometown and his family in California.

"Are there any interesting stories in Japan recently?" Liang Yao asked.

"Not really interesting stories." Deng Yan said with a worried look on his face.

"After Japan was forced to open its country, some knowledgeable people in Japan advocated to follow the story of the Tang Dynasty by imitating the Taika Reform, to carry out reforms, and to learn from the United States and Western countries to save themselves.

Some feudal domains have purchased foreign guns and cannons from Western countries, and imitated Westerners to establish a new army to protect themselves. The Japanese have taken action not only in the army, but also in the navy.

The steamship named Soembing that you captured was purchased by the Satsuma domain from the Dutch, but they didn't expect to be intercepted by you in the middle of the journey."

"I'm not interested in small things. This small steamship was not intercepted by me, but by the Dutch. It's not my fault.

The Japanese are ambitious and we must be on guard." Liang Yao agreed with this.

As a country that was also closed to the outside world and was also knocked on the door by the powerful countries with strong ships and powerful cannons, Japan's response was indeed much faster than that of the Qing Dynasty.

"Should we put pressure on the Japanese shogunate and negotiate with Britain, France and other countries not to sell weapons and ships to the Japanese pirates?" Deng Yan hopes to control the influx of Western weapons to curb the Japanese feudal domains from training new-style armies.

Currently, there is only half a regiment of US troops stationed in Nagasaki for a long time.

Although the troops of this half regiment are all professional soldiers from the Western Brigade, their professional quality and combat effectiveness are guaranteed.

But the number is too small. Deng Yan is worried that once the feudal domains in the Japanese archipelago have trained enough new-style armies, they will become restless.

If trouble arises at that time, it may be difficult for the US troops stationed in Japan with half a regiment to deal with it.

"Arms are a big business. If we don't sell them, and don't let others sell them, and cut off their financial resources, you still want them to be on the same page with you. Is there such a beautiful thing in the world?" Liang Yao shook his head and smiled.

It is not feasible to prohibit the influx of foreign guns and cannons into Japan, both in theory and in practice.

Cutting off someone's money is like killing their parents. If you don't sell it yourself and don't allow other powers such as Britain and France to sell it, they will be angry with you.

Previously, many feudal lords requested to purchase guns and even warships from California.

However, although California has its own relatively complete military industry, its production capacity is not enough.

After meeting its own needs, Liang Yao allocated excess production according to the priority of customers.

Among them, the order priority of Yueyong is the highest, followed by Britain and France, and finally the arms orders of Japan and other countries.

Liang Yao is now very reluctant to deal with the orders of the French, not to mention Japan, which has a lower priority. Therefore, the arms that Japan can obtain from Liang Yao are very limited.

However, as the dust settles on the war in Borneo, this situation will soon be improved. With less consumption, Liang Yao can also allocate some arms.

"Then increase the number of US troops stationed in Japan?"

The Japanese's self-improvement made Deng Yan feel more and more insecure.

At the beginning, they were able to defeat the 100,000 shogunate army with only two or three regiments of troops, largely because of their technical advantages in weapons and equipment.

Once this technological advantage is reduced, Deng Yan has no idea whether the half-regiment of US troops stationed in Japan can deter the feudal domains of the Japanese archipelago and the shogunate authorities.

"You pay for the military expenses?" Liang Yao rolled his eyes at Deng Yan.

"I think you have been the Japanese emperor for two years in vain. You have been in Japan for so long, but you don't even understand the national conditions of Japan? At present, there are hundreds of feudal domains in Japan, and it is difficult for them to be united.

What I am afraid of is a unified Japan, not a fragmented Japan."

The cost of overseas garrisons is very high, and the federal government has approved very limited military expenses for the US troops stationed in Japan.

Increasing the number of US troops stationed in Japan, the final military expenses will also be borne by Liang Yao.

If increasing the number of US troops stationed in Japan can solve the problem, Liang Yao is willing to spend some money to solve the problem.

But the problem is that spending money may not necessarily solve the problem.

Although Japan's territory is not vast, it is not a small country.

What's more, Japan's current population is more than 30 times that of California. It is unrealistic to rely on the number of troops stationed in Japan to maintain its interests in Japan.

Supporting agents is the most cost-effective method.

"You mean to support the vassal states that are close to us and serve as our dogs? Maintaining Japan's current fragmented state" Deng Yan quickly reacted.

"Exactly, a divided and weak Japan is a good Japan.

When the British devils attacked our Guangdong, did you hate the British devils more, or did you hate the traitors who led the British devils more?" Liang Yao asked.

"Of course, those dog traitors." Deng Yan blurted out.

This is a good idea. As long as the pro-American Japanese vassal states are supported, these Japanese vassal states can share a lot of pressure for them.

The most important thing is that this method saves money.

As for whether a civil war will break out in Japan, Deng Yan believes that Liang Yao has the same idea as him and hopes that a civil war will break out in Japan.

"I don't support useless people. If you want to be my dog, this vassal must be a strong vassal and must obey me absolutely. Is there such a vassal?"

As he said, Liang Yao boarded the carriage and asked Deng Yan if there was a suitable agent.

After Deng Yan sat down, he thought for a while and stroked his forehead and said, "There really is one!"

"Who?" Liang Yao asked curiously.

"Hizen Saga Domain, Naoto Naomasa, do you still remember this person?" Deng Yan replied.

"How could I not remember? When we first arrived in Japan, the first person we beat was him." Liang Yao laughed.

Deng Yan continued, "Before the founding of Japan, Saga Domain was one of the most powerful domains. After the founding of the country, due to the signing of the Treaty of Nagasaki with us, Saga Domain's situation became very bad.

Unlike other domains, Saga Domain not only had to share the indemnity in the Treaty of Amity between the United States and Japan, but also had to pay a separate indemnity of one million taels in the Treaty of Nagasaki, and bear the huge study expenses of students studying in the United States.

Saga Domain had repeatedly requested that the one million taels of silver indemnity in the Treaty of Nagasaki be incorporated into the Treaty of Amity between the United States and Japan, and that all domains in the world bear this indemnity together. But it was rejected by the lords of the other domains.

Naomasa Nabeshima then hated these domains.

What's more valuable is that Saga Domain is the most respectful domain to us, and it is a domain that can be cultivated."

"Our base is in Nagasaki, and it is difficult for him not to be respectful to us." Liang Yao said.

Saga Domain, this old unlucky domain, is really a bit miserable.

When Liang Yao led his army to Japan, Saga Domain was the worst hit and enjoyed the one-to-one VIP service of the US military.

After Liang Yao returned to California, the US military stationed in Japan was set in Nagasaki, and Saga Domain had to be careful with these uncles stationed in Nagasaki from then on.

"Strange, strange, I have heard a little about the Japanese. According to common sense, this Japanese pirate lord should hate you two. You two are the culprits who forced Japan to open its country."

Liang Shaoqiong, who had not interrupted, couldn't help but sighed.

He didn't understand the Japanese's brain circuit a little bit. The more they were bullied, the more submissive they were? Could it be that these Japanese had a problem with their brains.

"Brother Liang, you don't know that the Japanese are afraid of the strong and are the most bullying. The more you bully him, the more submissive he will be to you. To put it bluntly, he is a cheap bone." Deng Yan explained Liang Shaoqiong's doubts.

In the past two years in Japan, he has deepened his understanding of the Japanese.

"Even so, on the way back, I will meet Naomasa Naoshima and make a final decision after a survey." Liang Yao touched the stubble on his chin.

Although the strength of Hizen Saga was weakened after the founding of the country, it still has the foundation of a strong clan.

As long as Naomasa Naoshima is not a helpless person, it is not impossible to let Saga clan stand proudly at the top of all clans with a little support.

More importantly, the current situation of Hizen Saga clan is different from other clans.

The rest of the clans only need to pay the United States 11 million taels of silver in compensation.

The compensation for the Nagasaki Article that Hizen Saga clan needs to bear alone is as high as 1 million taels of silver.

At present, Hizen Saga clan has only paid 200,000 taels of this compensation, and the remaining 800,000 taels are still owed and are planned to be repaid in installments.

Not to mention the principal, the interest alone is enough to make Hizen Saga clan breathless.

In short, this indemnity only made the other feudal domains of Japan a little sad, but it was not impossible to get through it with a gritted teeth.

The Hizen Saga Domain had to face a real desperate situation.

Moreover, the Hizen Saga Domain was very close to Nagasaki, and if there was any disloyalty, Deng Yan could react quickly.

"Understood." Deng Yan nodded, and then as if he suddenly remembered something, he said to Liang Yao.

"There are envoys from the Rakshasa Kingdom who want to see you. They came with my ship. Do you want to see them or not?"

"Leave them alone for now."

Liang Yao gave a reply after thinking for a moment.