Chapter 455 Sword to the South Ocean
The purpose of the exercise is to take precautions. For East Africa, the actual defense pressure is not as great as that of other countries, but it is easy for other countries to disgust East Africa.
Ernst, who showed up in the exercise, soon took the train back. He came to inspect to show his attention to the army, and he had more important things to do.
July 1875.
Bagamoyo Port.
"This time, our fleet's mission is to depart from East Africa, cross the Strait of Malacca, pass through Kalimantan Island, and finally arrive in the Far East to pay state visits to various countries in the Far East." Archduke Ferdinand said to the naval officers.
This made the young Austrian officers very excited. After all, this mission was quite rare, and they might not have encountered such an opportunity even in Austria before.
There are many Austrian officers in the East African Navy, which is understandable. After all, the structure of the East African Navy was built by them and Archduke Ferdinand.
The East African Navy is no longer the rookie it once was. With the help of the Austrian Navy, it has developed quite well. Especially after the two new ironclad ships entered service last month, the number of East African ironclad ships has reached three.
As for why the first naval voyage was chosen to be in the Far East, it was to show off... no, it was to promote national prestige.
This time, a large sum of money was borrowed in the Far East to support the Far Eastern Empire's war against Tsarist Russia. Although the interest rate was not low, Ernst was also afraid that the Far Eastern Empire would take advantage of the situation and default on the debt.
The actual incidence of such things was close to zero. The Far Eastern Empire had always attached great importance to its reputation. Although more than 10 million taels was a lot, it was not something it could not repay. In fact, in history, the Far Eastern Empire repaid 8 million taels to HSBC in the second year, along with interest of more than 3 million taels, and it recovered its investment in one year.
Therefore, debt collection was just an excuse. The real purpose of the East African Navy was to explore the East.
Ernst has been coveting the East for more than a day or two. Of course, this East mainly refers to the Indian Ocean, plus the South China Sea region. For East Africa, everything east of the continent is the East.
Although the Indian Ocean is important, there are only a few islands in the center of the ocean, which are still controlled by Britain and France. Moreover, with the commissioning of the East African Navy's ironclad ships and the control of the islands, the western Indian Ocean has actually become the back garden of East Africa. Therefore, in Ernst's eyes, what is truly important is the South Pacific region.
The status of the Strait of Malacca alone is irreplaceable. Of course, this is not something that East Africa can covet now, but there are many islands in the South China Sea!
Among the many islands in the South China Sea, the East Indies (here referring to Indonesia), Kalimantan (Borneo), the Philippine Islands, and Sumatra cannot be ignored (in fact, all of the above islands belong to the East Indies), and there are also a bunch of small islands with relatively important locations.
Among these islands, the Netherlands has the greatest influence, followed by the United Kingdom, then Spain, and finally Portugal (East Timor). Kalimantan Island has become an area that Ernst has set his sights on. The main countries on Kalimantan Island include the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Sarawak, Lan Fang and other seven republics.
The Dutch had three territories on the island of Kalimantan, located in the northwest and south of Kalimantan. In the middle of the Dutch colonies was the Republic of Lan Fang.
The Lan Fang Republic, also known as the Lan Fang Company or the Lan Fang Republic, was a Chinese country that was established as early as 1777. It was mainly composed of Chinese who migrated south during the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
The ruling class of the Lan Fang Republic was actually quite bizarre. It was known as the first republic in Asia, but was actually jointly ruled by local Chinese families, and its organizational form was more like that of the East India Company.
None of these were important to Ernst. He was simply attracted by the geographical conditions of Kalimantan. The South Sea is the "crossroads" of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, and Kalimantan is the "crossroads" of the South Sea.
Ernst said to his father-in-law: "During this voyage, we must focus on the Lan Fang Republic. This is likely to be our first colony in the East Indian Ocean in the future. Therefore, the navy can appropriately put forward conditions and requirements to the Lan Fang Republic this time to lay the foundation for our next step of expanding our economic and political influence on the Lan Fang Republic."
When it comes to picking soft persimmons, you have to pick the soft ones. The Republic of Lan Fang is the soft persimmon in Ernst's eyes, and it is a relatively familiar soft persimmon.
With the support of the navy this time, the Lan Fang Republic dare not lose face for East Africa. After all, the Lan Fang Republic has not had a good time in the Nanyang region in recent years, which is also the dilemma faced by the Nanyang countries.
Archduke Ferdinand asked, "Do you attach so much importance to the Lan Fang Republic because it is a Chinese country?"
This was the question in Archduke Ferdinand's heart, so he took this opportunity to ask it. After all, Ernst's actions showed that he attached great importance to the Chinese second only to the Germans.
"There is this factor, because I have studied Chinese history and understand Chinese people better, but this is not the main factor. The fundamental reason is that the Lan Fang Republic is an independent country, which is very important for us in East Africa. We don't have to conflict with other European countries now. If we don't conflict with other countries and still want to have a place in the East Indies, we can only start with those unowned lands or independent countries. Father-in-law, do you think it is more valuable to have a colony with a development foundation or an unowned land?"
"That is, of course, a colony with a development base."
"That's right. Before our Industrial Revolution, the Chinese had always mastered the most advanced civilization in the East. Seris was one of the four major powers in the world during the ancient Roman era. When Rome did not even exist, the Chinese were already the most powerful civilization in the world, much more powerful than Greece and Egypt. The Lan Fang Republic, as a Chinese-dominated country, and its residents were actually synonymous with the advanced productivity of the Nanyang region. Of course, I'm talking about before the Industrial Revolution."
"The Chinese are indeed very disciplined, hardworking and brave," said Archduke Ferdinand, referring to the Chinese sailors in the navy.
"That's right. In fact, the areas in East Asia that were influenced by Chinese civilization are almost the same, but the Nanyang region is not one of them. The time when they accepted civilization was probably the time when European colonists colonized them, and their efficiency was not much higher than that of the African natives."
Industrialization and colonial rule emphasize efficiency. The soil in the South Pacific islands is poor (except for islands covered with volcanic ash such as Java), and the development of civilization is not ideal. Therefore, if you want to pull the indigenous people into industrial civilization, it will be as difficult as in Africa.
Therefore, a Chinese-dominated country like the Lan Fang Republic is actually an ideal area for colonization. In fact, this is also true when looking at the development status of the Chinese in Malaysia in later generations. They are definitely high-quality subjects to be ruled.
Moreover, the Lan Fang Republic is now an independent country. It can first infiltrate East Africa economically for a few years, and then naturally incorporate it into East Africa's sphere of influence. There is no need to conflict with other colonists, and there is no need to be afraid of conflicts. The only ones who have the ability to threaten the Lan Fang Republic are the Dutch. Would Ernst be afraid of the Dutch?
Moreover, there was another reason why Ernst chose the Lan Fang Republic as a key naturalization area, which was to integrate the local Chinese forces to resist other colonizers.
After all, East Africa's overseas radiation capacity is not strong, and it does not have advantages over countries like the Netherlands in Southeast Asia. In other words, there are many unowned lands in Southeast Asia, but occupying these unowned lands has no value for East Africa now. Even if East Africa puts down flags in some unowned lands, countries like the Netherlands can simply ignore them.
Therefore, East Africa needs a fulcrum to interfere in the affairs of the Nanyang region, and the best target for this fulcrum is the Lan Fang Republic. Everyone here is half-family, so it is more convenient to cooperate.
Although he didn't know whether the Lan Fang Republic agreed psychologically, Ernst believed that they would agree under the threat of the East African Navy.
Besides, the demands of the East African Kingdom are not excessive. They just ask for the right to trade and invest, which is relatively easy to accept.
As for a few years later, it would be natural to request garrison. Anyway, with the threat of the Dutch around, the Lan Fang Republic might take the initiative to request garrison in East Africa. With the garrison, the rest of the things would be easier to handle. German education and German civilization could be fully promoted in the Lan Fang Republic, turning the Lan Fang Republic into a strategic fulcrum of East Africa in the South Seas.
In Ernst's opinion, this kind of thing was a natural thing. After all, Singapore had used English as its official language in the past, so it was feasible to promote German in the Lan Fang Republic.
(End of this chapter)
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