Expedition to Europe

What happened on Taiping Island immediately caused an uproar.

The Japanese on Taiping Island were organized by merchants, not by the government, and Taiping Island has never been Japanese territory. The Japanese mining the phosphate mines on it is equivalent to "stealing".

Since it has risen to a moral level, the Japanese originally had no confidence to make a fuss.

But because it was the Lan Fang people who came out to defend their rights, the Japanese had something to say.

Yes, the ownership of Taiping Island does not belong to Japan, but it does not belong to Lan Fang either. Taiping Island belongs to the Republic of China. Since the Republic of China government has not made any noise, why should the Lan Fang government drive away Japanese merchants?

The Lan Fang government produced a certificate, which clearly stated that the Beiyang government of the Republic of China entrusted the management of the South China Sea Islands to Lan Fang.

Immediately, public opinion was in an uproar, especially the Southern Military Government. A group of people jumped up and down, expressing their disapproval of this "letter of appointment" and reiterating their determination to attack the Beiyang government and unify the Republic of China.

And this time, the direction of public opinion is not the same as it was a few months ago.

The Daily News has achieved remarkable results in the first half of the year. The most obvious aspect is the recognition of Lan Fang by the whole country.

Especially in recent times, articles reversing the verdict of the Foreign Legion have frequently appeared in newspapers, and articles reflecting on the "truth of the movement" some time ago have also begun to appear. Many people have begun to rethink whether signing the Treaty of Verdun is helpless patriotism or complete treason.

Of course, this reflection is limited to the areas controlled by the Beiyang government. In the areas controlled by the Southern Military Government, the voices of "anti-Lan Fang" and "anti-Foreign Legion" are still the mainstream.

So although the Southern Military Government has not yet attacked the Beiyang Government, the media has already held different opinions and is on the verge of a war.

The media in the areas controlled by the Southern Military Government have firmly grasped the point that the Beiyang Government "lost its sovereignty and humiliated the country" and expressed opposition to the Beiyang Government's blatant sale of national territory. Lan Fang has now established its own country. The Beiyang Government's "cession" of the management rights of the South China Sea Islands to Lan Fang is a sale of national sovereignty.

The media in the Beiyang government-controlled area, mainly the Daily News, openly ridiculed that the KMT's behavior of not allowing Lan Fang to get involved in the South China Sea was "preferring to be with foreigners rather than domestic slaves." Although Lan Fang was an independent country, it was still of the same origin and race as the Republic of China. The KMT knew that the Republic of China government was unable to safeguard the sovereignty of the South China Sea, and would rather let the Japanese steal resources on the islands than let Lan Fang defend its rights. How serious is the servility.

Well, since the demise of the Qing Empire, the word "slavery" has been extremely lethal, so the Southern Military Government seems to be at a disadvantage in this debate.

However, the reason why shameless people are shameless is because the moral standards in their hearts have seriously deviated. They don't think their behavior is shameless at all, but take it for granted.

Lan Fang had no interest in arguing with the Southern Military Government. Starting from Taiping Island, Lan Fang's warships were like seed drills, and began to frequently shuttle between the Beihai Islands, sending teams of Marines to the Beihai Islands to serve as island defense forces and began to actually occupy the Beihai.

In fact, not many people were sent. Even to the largest Lin Island, which is the famous Yongxing Island, Lan Fang only sent a platoon to build a radio station on it to communicate with Lan Fang. As for the smaller islands such as Xiyue Island and Nanwei Island, Lan Fang only sent less than a squad, which was just a symbolic island defense force.

Don't look at these few people, it is enough to demonstrate sovereignty.

At present, there are only five countries around the Beihai, Lan Fang, the Republic of China, French Indochina, the United States Philippines, and British Malaya.

France and Lan Fang are allies, and the Republic of China is unable to interfere. The Americans and the British want to reach out but have no legal basis, so they can only express their concern in a sullen manner.

As a non-regional country, Japan has shown extraordinary enthusiasm for the South China Sea. It is said that in Japan, some so-called "experts" have begun to look for relevant documents to find evidence to prove that Japan and the North Sea are also related.

Well, this is doomed to be futile. The Japanese have nothing to do with the North Sea. Japanese men went to sea in history to be pirates on the Yellow Sea, and Japanese women went to sea to find Chinese for breeding. The Yellow Sea alone can meet the needs of the Japanese, and the Japanese have never extended their tentacles to the North Sea.

In fact, before the North Sea was proven to have oil and gas resources, there was no problem with the dispute over the ownership of the North Sea. The countries in the relevant sea areas may feel disgusted with Lan Fang's practice of sending out island defense troops, but they did not feel the pain.

This time and space is different from another time and space. There is no oil extraction equipment in the North Sea now, and the relevant countries have not conducted resource exploration in the North Sea. Therefore, except Qin Zhiyuan, no one knows what is on the bottom of the North Sea.

Of course, unless Lan Fang conducts large-scale development of the North Sea, no one will know the secrets of the North Sea seabed, because now these islands and the nearby waters belong to Lan Fang. Except for Lan Fang, other countries are not qualified to carry out exploration work in these places.

Occupying these islands also has other special effects, especially large islands like Lin Island and Taiping Island, where airports can actually be built. This is equivalent to an unsinkable aircraft carrier, pushing Lan Fang's border directly northward by more than 1,000 kilometers. Wanghaizhou, the largest in Lan Fang, has become an inland island, greatly reducing the defense pressure.

While controlling the South China Sea islands, Qin Zhiyuan did not give up his strategy for French Indochina.

In early July, Qin Zhiyuan went to Saigon and signed a contract with Bastien on the lease of Cam Ranh Bay.

Cam Ranh Bay is located in the southeast of Annam. The harbor is 17 kilometers inland. It is formed by two peninsulas into two inner and outer bays in the shape of a gourd. The inner harbor, Cam Ranh, covers an area of ​​60 square kilometers and the bay mouth is only 1,300 meters wide. The outer harbor, Pingba, has a water depth of 10-22 meters, the bay mouth is about 4,000 meters wide, and the water depth outside the mouth is more than 30 meters.

Cam Ranh Bay has enough depth to berth battleships and aircraft carriers. It can be said to be one of the best deep-water ports in the world.

At the same time, the location of Cam Ranh Bay is on the important waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, which has extremely important strategic value.

Of course, the French are not unaware of the value of Cam Ranh Bay, but for the French, Cam Ranh Bay does not have much development value, because the home port of the French Far East Fleet is not Cam Ranh Bay, but Guangzhou Bay in the Republic of China, which is Zhanjiang City in the future.

Compared with the French, the Republic of China, which had not yet become a colony, obviously had greater strategic value.

In Qin Zhiyuan's eyes, Cam Ranh Bay, which had good hydrological conditions, was the cradle of the Lan Fang Navy.

Therefore, on the issue of leasing Cam Ranh Bay, Qin Zhiyuan and Bastien hit it off.

After the signing of the agreement, Lan Fang will lease Cam Ranh Bay for 99 years at a price of 1 million francs per year. After the expiration of the period, if Lan Fang is willing to continue the lease, the agreement will be automatically extended.

In other words, Lan Fang obtained the permanent right to use Cam Ranh Bay at a cost of 1 million francs per year.

The original text is available at Liu # 9 @Shu/Bar!

Of course, this agreement is not limited to Cam Ranh Bay, but also includes land within a range of about 100 square kilometers near Cam Ranh Bay. The French colonial government will be responsible for the relocation of the Annan people in the concession.

"Concession", Lan Fang actually has its first overseas concession, which makes Lan Fang look more and more like one of the great powers, although this "great power" does not seem to be so well-deserved.

After leasing Cam Ranh Bay, Qin Zhiyuan immediately recruited workers in Annan and Siam. The first batch of workers was 100,000 people, and the formal development of Cam Ranh Bay began immediately.

100,000 people, this is really a big deal, but Bastien is obviously not interested in it.

"If you want workers, you don't need to go to Siam at all. Annan can satisfy you. Even if you want to find 1 million people, it's no problem. If you feel that your influence is not enough, there are Cambodians and Laotians. Why go to Siam to recruit workers." Bastien is straightforward.

Bastien and Qin Zhiyuan have a very good relationship. The two are both "colleagues" and partners, so Bastien is not shy with Qin Zhiyuan.

Siam is Thailand in the future, Cambodia is Cambodia, and Laos is Laos. In the current Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Laos and Annan form French Indochina, and Burma, a little further west, is a province of British India. Siam is sandwiched between British India and French Indochina, becoming a buffer zone between the two places.

It is precisely because of the compromise between the French and the British that Siam has remained independent until now. Otherwise, it would be a pipe dream for the King of Siam to hold the throne.

The current total population of French Indochina is about 15 million. It is a bit difficult to get 1 million workers, but it is not impossible.

"Can I eat Siamese rice?" Qin Zhiyuan said half-jokingly and half-seriously.

When he said this, Qin Zhiyuan and Bastien were in the Governor-General's Palace of French Indochina in Hanoi. Bastien did not mean to treat Qin Zhiyuan as an outsider, because perhaps in the near future, Qin Zhiyuan would also be the owner here.

Siam is the granary of Southeast Asia, and the rice production is amazing. Qin Zhiyuan's saying that he wants to eat Siamese rice is of course a joke, but Bastien took it seriously.

"Don't do anything. Siam's current status is quite special, and the French government does not want to change the status quo." Bastien has a certain political acumen. With his understanding of Qin Zhiyuan, he can vaguely feel that Qin Zhiyuan has bad intentions.

The current colonial system was established by the French and the British. Although Bastien and Qin Zhiyuan have a good relationship, there is no room for negotiation on the issue of national interests. Bastien knows this clearly.

"You think too much. I have no intention of changing the status quo. Siam is Siam. Any place will become a colony of Lan Fang. We Chinese don't have that habit." Qin Zhiyuan denied it flatly.

Well, Qin Zhiyuan didn't finish his words. The Chinese really don't like colonies, because any land that the Chinese like will become their "inherent territory". There has never been such a thing as a colony.