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 merchants have built a large number of factories and facilities in the Far East. At the same time, the demand for trade volume between East Africa and the Far Eastern Empire is also increasing. The higher, so we hope to establish a transit station in Ryukyu, your country's affiliated country, to ensure the safety of ships passing through East Africa and at the same time facilitate 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 entire Ryukyu Islands, 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 it. Ryukyu politics, to be honest, 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 Hongzhangyi Looking at Richard with a suspicious face, Ryukyu is a land of right and wrong now, 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 is a country that has always fed unfamiliar white-eyed wolves and is narrow-minded. If your country builds a special economic zone in the Southern Ryukyu Islands , I'm afraid they may really cause trouble for you."
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 terms of absolute strength. Japan is just a clown in front of them. If they dare to offend Germany, the navies of the three countries will dare to go to Edo to inspect."
East Africa has never fought alone in the Far East. Germany and Austria have commercial interests in the Far East. , 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, the two major transportation routes of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea are 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.
Both sides have their own leverage, so the British cannot do too much to East Africa. If East Africa and the British are really in trouble, 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 to make a tiger skin, Li Hongzhang felt very complicated in his heart, remembering the history of being deceived by East Africa.
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, and the so-called Princely Kingdom of Hechingen was even more insignificant in Germany. The surname Hohenzollern 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.
After so many years, the Far Eastern Empire discovered that it had been tricked by East Africa because of its lack of understanding of Western culture and politics.
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 Britain and other countries, and 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 tried to do something wrong next time and succeeded, but let alone, after the experience of being defrauded in East Africa, the Far Eastern Empire I have a great understanding of small countries such as Greece, Portugal, Belgium, and Italy.
Poor Portugal was directly classified as a small country because of the Eastern-Portuguese War. From now on, it will be difficult for Portuguese merchants to bluff and deceive in the Far Eastern Empire.
"Ambassador Richard, we can allow your country to develop the Southern Ryukyu Islands, but accordingly, Japan's troubles will only be borne by your country."
Li Hongzhang really had no choice. His own navy had not yet grown up. Of course, there was another important reason, that is, 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 of the matter will be left to us in East Africa. We will never embarrass your country."
East Africa acted very quickly. Although it will take some time for its own ironclads to pass, East Africa has many merchant ships in the Far East. After obtaining permission from the Far East Empire, they directly and blatantly transport 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. Local forces and bureaucrats are not vegetarians. Ernst knows them very well anyway. You cannot be polite when cooperating with them, otherwise you will lose your bones. Leftover.
At least there is nothing wrong with East Africa's excuse. To protect East Africa's commercial interests in the Far East, it is necessary 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, they are only to facilitate business and investment in East Africa while avoiding competition with other countries. East Africa is here There are some privileges in the two special economic zones, 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 use a defensive weapon.
However, neither the Far Eastern Empire nor Japan could have imagined that East Africa was aiming for the dominance of the Southern Ryukyu Islands, and that it was going to become a subsidiary force of 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 East African armored fleet will also sail by. In this era, Japan's nose has not yet floated to 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, it has the support of the Far Eastern Empire and Lanfang Overseas Province. , controlling the Southern Ryukyu Islands is not too difficult.
(End of this chapter)