Chapter 546 Permission
Peking.
"Mr. Li, you are also aware that our East African economic interests in the Far East are growing, especially German businessmen have built a large number of factories and facilities in the Far East. At the same time, the trade volume between East Africa and the Far Eastern Empire is also increasing. So we hope to establish a transit station in Ryukyu, your vassal state, to ensure the safety of passing East African ships and facilitate the development of trade between the two countries." The East African ambassador found Li Hongzhang and said bluntly.
At this time, Li Hongzhang was really troubled by the issue of the South Ryukyu Islands or the entire Ryukyu Islands, especially the undisguised wolfish ambitions of Japan, a short and rebellious country, 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 situation in the Ryukyu Kingdom is quite complicated now, especially since Japan has disregarded international rules and directly invaded the Ryukyu Kingdom and illegally manipulated Ryukyu politics. To be honest, we can no longer control the Ryukyu Kingdom government."
"I heard that Japan only occupied the central and northern parts of Ryukyu, and they did not control the southern region, so we don't care about the attitude of Japan and Ryukyu. As long as your country nods and agrees, it's fine."
Li Hongzhang looked at Richard with suspicion. Ryukyu was now a place of trouble, and East Africa wanted to plunge into it.
"Your country is truly a great power, but I still advise you to think twice before you act. Japan has always been a ungrateful country that is hard to please, and it is narrow-minded. If your country builds a special economic zone in the South Ryukyu Islands, I'm afraid they might really cause trouble for you."
Richard said nonchalantly: "Mr. Li is also the head of the Imperial Navy. I think you also know how strong our East African Navy is. In front of absolute strength, Japan is just a clown. If they dare to offend Germany, the navies of the three countries will dare to go to Edo for an inspection."
East Africa has never fought alone in the Far East. The commercial interests of Germany and Austria in the Far East are largely protected by East Africa.
This is not an exaggeration. The influence of the German and Austrian navies on the Far Eastern Empire is very weak. After all, the two important transportation routes of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea are firmly controlled by the British Royal Navy.
But it is different in East Africa. 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 Britain, but the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Cape Town are also constrained by East Africa.
Both sides have leverage over the other, so the British cannot go too far in East Africa. If East Africa and Britain really go to war, India will be in a very dangerous situation.
India is Britain's Achilles' heel. Even if East Africa cuts off the connection between India and mainland Britain for a short period of time, it may cause major changes in the world pattern.
After all, Britain's enemies include more than just 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 Britain. Britain's attitude towards India must be foolproof.
When Li Hongzhang heard that East Africa was again trying to use Germany and Austria as leverage, he felt very complicated and recalled the history of being deceived by East Africa.
When East Africa was still an insignificant colony, Germany used the German flag to defraud many privileges from the Far Eastern Empire.
As the Far Eastern Empire gained a deeper understanding of East Africa, it realized that it had been deceived. At that time, East Africa could not represent Germany at all, and the so-called Principality of Hechingen was even more insignificant in Germany. The surname Hohenzollern was also deceptive, which led 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 East Empire realized that it had been fooled 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, its naval strength has entered the top ten in the world, and the Far East Empire can only accept 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 colonial countries that are really excessive to the Far Eastern Empire.
In the final analysis, East Africa was simply taking advantage of the Far Eastern Empire's lack of understanding of the West, so the blame can only be borne by its own diplomats. The Far Eastern Empire's modern diplomacy started very late, and the earliest international students were sent in the 1970s. The fraud in East Africa also further stimulated the Far Eastern Empire's exploration and understanding of the Western world.
It would be a shame if other Western countries tried to scam them next time and succeeded. But it’s true that after the experience of being scammed in East Africa, the Far East Empire had a great understanding of small countries such as Greece, Portugal, Belgium, Italy...
Poor Portugal was directly classified as a small country because of the Portuguese-Orthodox War. From then on, Portuguese merchants could no longer cheat in the Far Eastern Empire.
"Ambassador Richard, we can allow your country to develop the South Ryukyu Islands, but correspondingly, the troubles on the Japanese side will have to be borne by your country."
Li Hongzhang really had no choice because his own navy had not yet grown up. Of course, there was another important reason, which was that the navy was his lifeline and he could not afford to lose it. It would be better to let East Africa and Japan fight each other.
"Hahaha, no problem. As long as your country agrees, we in East Africa will take care of the rest. We will definitely not make it difficult for your country."
East Africa acted quickly. Although it would take some time for its own ironclad ships to arrive, East Africa had many merchant ships in the Far East. After obtaining permission from the Far Eastern Empire, it directly and blatantly transported troops and supplies to the South Ryukyu Islands.
The military strength is easy to explain. Security personnel are a must to survive in the Far Eastern Empire. Local forces and bureaucrats are no pushovers either. Ernst knows them very well anyway, so he cannot be polite when cooperating with them, otherwise he will be wiped out.
At least there is nothing wrong with East Africa’s excuse. In order to protect East Africa’s commercial interests in the Far East, they need to find an island in the Pacific region as an economic development zone.
In other words, it was a colony similar to a concession. After all, the Ryukyu Kingdom was only a vassal state of the Far East and had not been given too much attention 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 set up in the Far East, they are only for the convenience of East Africa's business and investment, and to avoid competition with other countries. East Africa has some privileges in these two special economic zones, but other important rights are still in the hands of the Far East Empire. Only in economic aspects does the Far East Empire have to negotiate with East Africa.
This time, the Far Eastern Empire thought that East Africa’s model for the South Ryukyu Islands would be the same as the two special economic zones, and it would also make Japan hesitate to act rashly.
However, neither the Far Eastern Empire nor Japan could have imagined that East Africa was aiming for the ruling power of the South Ryukyu Islands and wanted to build East Africa into a subsidiary power.
The East African government directly telegraphed merchant ships in the Zhuhai Trade Zone to go to the South Ryukyu Islands to begin building a military base, and the East African Army and Navy will move in directly in the future.
By the time Japan reacted, the East African armored fleet had already arrived. At this time, Japan's nose was not yet in the sky and it still had to pretend to be a grandson in front of foreigners.
In fact, the South Ryukyu Islands are not very close to Japan, otherwise according to Japan's character, it would not have argued with the Far Eastern Empire. Although East Africa is far away from the South Ryukyu Islands, with the help of the Far Eastern Empire and the Lan Fang Overseas Province, it is not too difficult to control the South Ryukyu Islands.
(End of this chapter)
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