1890 King of Southeast Asia

In the eyes of outsiders, Liu Yiming was more busy with the wedding. In Liu Yiming's eyes, it was the abnormal calmness of the entire Nanhua. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Nanhua and Britain, everything could not be more normal.

At this time, countries following the British came to open consulates one after another, and they had consular relations with each other, such as the United States, such as Japan. Oh, the diplomatic documents handed to Die Qing were not followed up.

But it was precisely this point that was abnormal. The news of Nanhua's loan had been spread. After all, it was borrowed from the bank. In addition to the warships, a large number of orders surprised many people, but after the news of the orders came out, even the Dutch quieted down.

"Charles, are you really not hiding anything from me?" The wedding was the next day, but Liu Yiming became more and more uneasy and came to Charles' villa. Fortunately, Charles was still there.

"Why should I hide it from you? Isn't it very peaceful recently?" Charles asked in confusion.

"I always feel that something bad will happen." Liu Yiming hesitated and said.

"You worry too much, typical pre-marriage anxiety. Okay, okay, I'll find out for you. There hasn't been any change in Europe recently. Peace has come!" Charles said in a funny way.

Liu Yiming was still very uneasy, but he didn't know the source of his uneasiness. He looked through various data without a clue.

From morning to noon, and then to afternoon, he still had no clue.

"All the data show that everything is normal, so what did I overlook?" Liu Yiming didn't know where he missed, but it seemed that he didn't remember something.

In his irritability, he glanced at a piece of data - immigration data.

"From the end of January to February, there was an increase of 15,000 people, and from February to now, there was an increase of 60,000 people. What's wrong?" The increase in immigration is a normal thing. During this period, the breach in the north and the drought came together, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, and the results of floods and droughts in many provinces in the south also began to appear.

"Only more than 20 medium-sized passenger ships were hired the first time, and 40,000 people were transported by converted merchant ships. How come there were only 20,000 the second time?" Liu Yiming found something unusual. He just looked at it and thought that they didn't have enough people. But when he thought about it carefully, there were so many refugees and Liu Yiming paid for it, so how could there be no one?

"Send a telegram!" Liu Yiming roared. He wanted to find out whether the source of the uneasiness was here.

"Yes!" Staff Officer Yang came in to record.

"Send a telegram to Lin Anmin, asking about the recent enrollment situation, and, forget it, that's it." Liu Yiming waved his hand and practiced sending a telegram.

Then he picked up the phone. Chen Siyuan had become the director of the Immigration Bureau and was stationed in Sishui.

"Connect to Director Chen of the Immigration Bureau."

"Siyuan, this is Liu Yiming. Why did you only hand over half of the immigration data in late February?" Liu Yiming asked.

Chen Siyuan thought Liu Yiming was here to ask for punishment: "Commander, those traffickers seem to want to raise the price and unite not to sell to us. Now they are all collecting them by themselves."

"Okay, this matter may not be that simple. Let the people in the Immigration Bureau pay attention to safety." Liu Yiming hung up the phone, walked back and forth twice, and began to compare the map again, calculating the distance from the Navy Station, Magic City to Java.

"Liu! Liu!" Charles' voice suddenly came from outside.

"Come in!"

"Liu, I heard bad news." Charles said anxiously.

"What news?" Liu Yiming asked.

"I don't know who spread it. The Dutch know that you are buying warships, but they should not know the specific data, because they are still buried in their several coastal defense warships."

"However, the Dutch seem to have reached a tacit understanding with Germany, and the Dutch Army has a lot more German-speaking instructors." Charles said.

"No more?" Liu Yiming asked.

"Also, the Japanese ambassador to the Netherlands has suddenly become very active. This is local intelligence. Don't talk nonsense." Charles looked around and said after making sure there were no talents.

The water was getting muddier and muddier, and Liu Yiming was confused. German participation was foreseeable, but Japanese participation? Are they so greedy?

"Report, telegram." Staff Officer Yang knocked on the door and said.

Lin Anmin replied after receiving the telegram. He had recruited more than 100 people, and half of them had already left.

"Huh~" Liu Yiming sighed, "It's an ambush from all sides!"

"Order, all coastal artillery positions, prepare immediately, have the navy's ships been repaired?" Liu Yiming asked.

The question was about the captured Dutch ship, which was large and inappropriate, slow, small in tonnage, and weak in national strength (and old-fashioned artillery.), but at least it was a warship, wasn't it?

"There is a frigate that can be used, and two gunboats. Who are we going to fight at sea?" Staff Officer Yang asked.

"With this little wealth, naval battle? Isn't that a gift?" Liu Yiming said self-deprecatingly.

"Report, Consul Cyril wants to see you." There was another message outside the door.

"What is Cyril doing here?" Charles asked in confusion.

"Please come in." Liu Yiming said, "You'll know in a moment."

"Minister Liu, good afternoon!" Cyril upholds British elegance.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Cyril, what can I do for you?" Liu Yiming felt that it was probably the thing he was worried about.

"Forward the information from the ambassador to China, the government of the Qing Dynasty may take military action against South China." Cyril spoke with a bang.

"According to the Governor of Hong Kong, the Qing Beiyang Navy sent a request on March 12, March 14, to provide supplies and coal for the Beiyang Navy warships heading south."

"According to the news from the British instructors of the Beiyang Fleet, the commander of the Beiyang Fleet has sent four main battleships out of the port, and the motive is unknown!"

Cyril said three pieces of intelligence in one breath, and each piece of intelligence pointed to a problem.

The Qing court seemed to be going to war with Nanhua!

"Your Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the British Empire can only do so much, I hope you are prepared." Cyril said and left.

"Sure enough..." Liu Yiming murmured while comparing.

"Charles, can you find out whether it is the main force of the Beiyang Fleet or something else that is going south?" Liu Yiming asked.

"Who makes us friends?" Charles thought for a while and smiled bitterly.

"Dingzhen..." Liu Yiming looked at the map.

"Can't fight!" Among the warships of the Nanhua Navy that are over a thousand tons, there is only one frigate with a ship age of 20 years, which was captured and overhauled! The rest are two 200-ton gunboats.

"Send a telegram, the Third Brigade will return to Batavia, beware of the Dutch sneak attack, the Second Brigade, except for the artillery battalion, will move to Batavia, be alert to possible enemies, the Second Regiment of the First Brigade and the Artillery Battalion of the First Brigade and the Artillery Battalion of the Second Brigade will be stationed in Semarang."

"Order, load the salvaged artillery onto the ship overnight, complete it before March 14th, set off on the 14th, and build a fort in Semarang."

There is no way, the gap between the enemy and us is too big, there is no problem in defending, Liu Yiming is not afraid of fighting a land battle, but the sea battle is over.

"The entire navy is stationed in Semarang." The most dangerous place is Semarang. There is no fort. If it is sent there now, it cannot build permanent fortifications. It is very dangerous.

"Also, let the merchant ships hide in foreign ports, or return home and temporarily stop operating." Liu Yiming ruled out the sea battle one by one. In this way, unless landing, it is impossible to defeat Nanhua, and in land battle, Liu Yiming is not afraid of double-gun soldiers.

"Nanhua has entered a semi-alert state, and the militia cooperates with the police to maintain order."

"Are you going to fight hard?" Charles said in surprise.

"What else? We have no intersection with that government, no conflict of interest, but he is ready to fight without declaration. He hopes that overseas Chinese will not live well, so that everyone will be on the shore for him to exploit." Liu Yiming said angrily.

"He has the best navy in Asia." Charles said with a very strange expression.

"Yes, but he does not provide military expenses for the navy." Liu Yiming thought and said.

"You want to drag it out?" Charles said in surprise.

"Yes, even if he attacks, I will drag it out. In a few days, he will retreat. Once the war starts, there will be no port to dock for supplies and no military expenses. Only the government of this country can think of such a thing!" Liu Yiming said sarcastically.

"What is the attitude of the British Empire on this matter?" Liu Yiming asked Charles.

"I don't know. Since Cyril came, I am no longer the person in charge. Now, I am just an idle person on vacation in Nanhua. When the Naval Academy opens in September, I will go back to school." Charles said helplessly.

"However, judging from the intelligence Cyril provided you, the Empire should be biased towards you. After all, this intelligence is not something Cyril can integrate."

"I don't quite understand why the American Dutch captured so many Chinese and he kept silent, but he reacted so strongly to Nanhua." Charles shook his head helplessly, unable to understand this magical government.

"It's normal, because I'm Chinese." Liu Yiming looked to the north and said meaningfully.

………………

Time goes back to the beginning of the first lunar month. After the New Year, many countries set up consulates in Nanhua, and Nanhua also established consulates in these countries.

With the idea of ​​hitting the jujube without the jujube, Liu Yiming submitted an application for establishing diplomatic relations to the Qing Dynasty through the Japanese Embassy.

On the third day of the first lunar month, the Japanese Embassy submitted the application to the Prime Minister's Office of Foreign Affairs. After reading it, Prince Li Shiduo quietly covered the book and did not allow conversations in the office.

At this time, on the fifth day of the first lunar month, the Japanese envoy, under the guise of paying New Year's greetings, put this matter in front of the current government's actual controller, the old Buddha, whose mind was only about power and politics.

February 24, the eighth day of the first lunar month, the grand court meeting.

"Let's discuss it. Where did this Nanhua come from?" The real power holder on the high seat in the court made his voice.

"Humph! A mere traitor, a discarded citizen of the Celestial Empire, dared to parrot and refute his memorial." The military minister Elehebu stood up and said.

"No, no, it should be reprimanded by an imperial decree." Zhang Zhiwan, who was also a military minister, said.

There was a lot of discussion in the court. After a while, the eunuch, at the signal of the old Buddha, whipped the air three times with a whip.

"Silence~ Quiet" The slightly sharp voice was not pleasant to hear.

"Shiduo, you are the chief military minister, and you are also in charge of the Prime Minister's Yamen. What do you think?" the old Buddha asked.

"To answer the Buddha, the Zongli Yamen's opinion is to reject his request." Shi Duo knelt down and said.

"Does that mean we don't care about him?" The Buddha's tone was a little unhappy.

"To answer the Buddha, he is in Nanhua, a remote place, and the journey is long. It takes five or seven days to sail..." Shi Duo stopped talking here, and the meaning was very clear. You are dissatisfied? It's useless. He is thousands of miles away and can't be affected.

"I heard that this rebel is in Dongshan, Jianfu and many provinces are spreading rumors to confuse the people and incite people's hearts, and transported many good people to the sea? Isn't this asking people to forget their ancestors?" The Buddha continued. This man rarely said this.

"This matter, I failed to do my duty and didn't hear about it! I will inform all provinces to prohibit this matter!" Shi Duo said.

"You are wrong, Holy Mother Empress Dowager, I have my reasons!" At this time, a gray-haired old man stepped out and knelt on the ground and said.

"Yes!"

"Confucius said... (I don't know how the Qingliu speak)"

"Weng Tongsu, if you have something to say, just say it." The old Buddha said impatiently.

"Well, I think that all these things here must be done with thunder and lightning, destroying their country and razing their ancestral temples to warn the world, otherwise people's hearts will be corrupted, and I am afraid that the country will no longer be a country!" At this time, Weng Tongsu was not a military minister, and his status as a Qingliu allowed him to say so.

"Listen, listen to it, what you said makes sense!" said the old Buddha.

"Jingxin, you are the Minister of War, what do you think?" The old Buddha pointed to another person.

"To reply to the old Buddha, I am a military general and not good at speaking. Lord Weng is right and cannot be left alone. Lord Shiduo is also right. The road is long and the march is difficult. If you want to send a large army, there will be many difficulties!" It is as if nothing has been said.

"Shiduo! What do you think?" The old Buddha was angry.

"I think we can't ignore it, but we can't gather the army for a while. It's better to let part of the navy go south to publicize the emperor's power. If he is willing to submit to the emperor, then it's fine. If not, we can bombard him." Shiduo knew that if he continued to shirk responsibility, someone else would have to make the decision.

At least in his hands, the scale of the conflict can be controlled. Is it so easy to fight thousands of miles away? Then he stared at Wen Tongsu fiercely. Qingliu is Qingliu, who doesn't know anything. If it weren't for the emperor's support, you would be killed sooner or later!

"No!" Gangyi stood up and said.

"The old Buddha is clear, the Nanyang Navy has not yet been formed, and only the Beiyang can move. The Beiyang protects the capital, so it can't be moved lightly!" Gangyi knelt on the ground and said loudly.

Shiduo glanced at Gangyi and smiled admiringly. "This fortitude can be cultivated. Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. How can we be as impatient as Wen Tongsu?"

"It's easy to do. Ding and Zhen are two ships. Zhen is the main ship and Ding is the auxiliary ship. Use the auxiliary ship to attack and the main ship to shock the capital. This first-class warship in the world can always protect the capital!" Weng Tongsu said.

"How can it be so?" Even if Shiduo is a person who doesn't know military affairs, he knows that it is a taboo to divide troops without clear intelligence.

"Let's do it!" Shiduo wanted to refute, but the tired Holy Mother Empress Dowager spoke and rushed to watch the show!

"Ah..." Shiduo had no choice but to do so.

While sending orders to the Beiyang Trade Office, he asked Lord Li to postpone the dispatch of troops in his private capacity.