Chapter 209 The Kingdom of Hawaii

The navy's ten-year plan has been finalized. Hu Chuyuan and Ding Ruchang, Minister of Naval Defense, secretly checked the submarine dock base. Now there are six test submarines of different specifications, with a maximum displacement tonnage of 450 tons, and the smallest one is only 80 tons.

Radio communication technology is also studied together at the same time, which has basically taken shape. It has applied for technology patents in the United States and the United Kingdom and started to be militarized.

Radio and submarine, this is Hu Chuyuan's most desired way of fighting.

On the surface, he is far away from the Chinese navy, but his thoughts still affect the entire Chinese navy all the time. This time, he put forward a plan for battlecruisers. As always, he still doesn't feel that the super cannon has any practical value, unless it is installed on the battleship.

His requirements for battlecruisers are high speed and considerable defensive armor, and the firepower can be relatively weak, because he does not expect battlecruisers to assume the heavy responsibility of the main decisive battle.

The real battleship is too expensive, so what should I do?

There is no way to work hard to develop the economy, and try our best to ensure that we are not lagging behind in technology.

At least in this era, battleships are the king of the sea, even 8,000-ton second-class battleships, future third-class, or even fourth-class battleships. The battlecruiser is only an auxiliary role, responsible for patrolling and killing cruisers.

Even if it is a battleship, Hu Chuyuan believes more in the role of armor.

The main battleship is too expensive, and being sunk is as serious as being anniied by an army regiment.

After finalizing these plans and confirming that the navy was still moving forward on the road he had set, Hu Chuyuan took his family to Kuching and Manila in a new patrol fleet.

This is not only a global tour diplomacy, but also a military diplomacy to show the strength of the Chinese navy. It is also an important opportunity for the East China Sea Fleet to cross the Pacific Fleet.

In order to achieve this effect, the level of patrol diplomacy following Hu Chuyuan this time is also very high. He is personally led by Ye Zuui, Admiral of the East China Sea Fleet. The flagships are two Zhiyuan-class ironclads, four Fuzhou-class ironclads, three Chaowu-class cruisers, four Chunyu-class destroyers, three defense ships, and two 7,000-tons. Large supply ships, two thousand-ton large patrol ships, and two torpedo assault ships.

According to the itinerary discussed by Hu Chuyuan and Emperor Guangxu in advance, patrol ships, torpedo ships, three Zhenjiang-class defense ships and a Chaowu-class cruiser will stop in Guam and formally implement the Guam agreement with Guam, making Guam the territory of the Qing Empire.

Gradually, Qing Zheng Axe will take over the surrounding Palau and the Caroling Islands. This time, he will go to the United States and Germany. Hu Chuyuan will complete this task and reach an agreement with Germany to buy the nearby Marshall Islands.

All countries have basically acquiesced in the problem of Guam, and other problems need to be renegotiated and divided.

If these islands are acquired, Qingzheng Axe will set up a new naval base in Guam to expand the East China Sea Fleet into the largest Pacific Fleet in the country and the largest in its jurisdiction.

After a tour of Nanyang, the huge fleet arrived in the Philippines on May 2, 1895, which had a good suppression effect on the issue of national exclusion during this period.

Unlike Britain, France, Germany and other countries, the Qing navy is relatively stable and efficient in terms of development cost, with a high cost-effective ratio. The main reason is the multi-shipization of a single design.

These ships of the patrol fleet basically completed the design before 1890 and began to be built and launched. Once it is stabilized and confirmed to be reliable, it will soon add more than four construction plans, and there will be no less than four, even more than 40 ships like the Spring Rain Class, making the average number of each ship. The cost has been reduced to a minimum.

On May 14, the visiting fleet arrived in Guam and officially set up a left-behind fleet and a marine army battalion of more than 400 people in Guam, as well as one person in the county.

In these incidents of staying in Guam, Hu Chuyuan was considering the problem of the Ogasawara Islands. In 1875, Britain transferred this island to Japan. Now, Hu Chuyuan hopes to find a way to bring it over.

This kind of thing is usually the sooner the better, but there is no particularly good way at the moment.

Since you have arrived in Guam, can you not go to Saipan?

Because he would stay in Guam for a while, Hu Chuyuan took his family to Saipan on a patrol ship and visited there for a few days. After that, he continued to lead the patrol fleet to Hawaii.

On May 30, the visiting fleet arrived in Hawaii and was stationed in Pearl Harbor, staying for about ten days.

This is not the first time that Hu Chuyuan has come to Hawaii. In Hawaii, there are already a lot of Chinese, and there are also Guangdong Guild Hall and Fuzhou Guild Hall.

Every time he comes to Hawaii, Hu Chuyuan will feel particularly wonderful. Walking on the beach and staring at the endless blue sea, his heart will suddenly expand to an endless realm.

Hu Chuyuan likes this feeling.

The scale of the patrol fleet completely shocked the whole Kingdom of Hawaii. Queen Liliukalani, who was on the verge of danger, received Hu Chuyuan's family and the fleet warmly, and invited Hu Chuyuan and his family to live in the Iolani Palace, the Royal Palace of Hawaii.

Hu Chuyuan was accompanied by Chen Fang, a local Chinese businessman, a 70-year-old sugar king in Hawaii. Although he was very old, he was in good health. Last time, when Hu Chuyuan came to Hawaii, he was living in Chen Fang's Noah Villa.

Iolani Palace is a very beautiful and exquisite small palace. It is not large in scale. Of course, it is far less than Hu Chuyuan's garden, not even as good as the Zhenyuan Garden, but it is also very interesting, especially in such a small island country.

Hawaiians are a naturally enthusiastic people. According to tradition, they held a very interesting welcome ceremony for Hu Chuyuan and his party under the guidance of Queen Liliukalani and ministers.

Such an interesting scene and picture scroll made Pan Limei and her two little sons very happy. Many Chinese also gathered in the square outside the palace to watch the Hawaiian ceremony together.

It's a very interesting thing.

In fact, there are also many people gathered here. It was they who destroyed the coup that the Americans tried to hold in 1887.

When the Americans humorously built a pure white armed force and took out a thousand rifles, the Chinese also gathered their own armed forces. Four or five thousand people were equipped with the best rifles at that time, and some people came from the Black Flag Army.

What's more humorous is that that night, the two sides did not use force, but confronted each other in silence, but that night, Fuqingshe sent hundreds of real red sticks to chop down the Americans in the middle of the night.

Recently, Americans want to play new tricks. They want to decide the future of the Kingdom of Hawaii on the basis of only white voting.

So, Hu Chuyuan came.

Hu Chuyuan himself does not really want to intervene in the affairs of the United States. If it is indeed a plan formulated by the American political axe and wants to openly invade the Kingdom of Hawaii, then... As long as the rights and interests of the local Chinese are guaranteed, Hu Chuyuan will not have any objection.

It's too low-level to do such nonsense tricks.

Life is actually very interesting.

Queen Liliukalani gave Hu Chuyuan the feeling that she is just a singer who can sing and a rich old woman who enjoys life very well. Although she is already a fifty-seven or eight-year-old lady, she is also chubby, she still likes singing and dancing very much.

She is like a lead singer, singing with the people in the palace.

This Iolani Palace is also very interesting. It doesn't even have a city wall and is completely defenseless. The palace is gathered in the square. It is very solemn and self-entertaining and singing indigenous folk songs to welcome special guests.

It was getting late. At the suggestion of a royal adviser, Queen Liliukalani remembered something. She hurriedly ended the ceremony, entertained Hu Chuyuan and his family to live in the palace, and enjoyed their Hawaiian specialties.

Chen Fang and his eldest son Chen Long served as translators and accompanied him in.

The large restaurant of the palace is located on the west side of the Iolani Palace. It is a round room with a beautiful dome and European furniture. It also holds a state banquet in a European way.

All the people invited to the banquet came in one after another. At this time, a beautiful woman came out of the backyard of the palace, wearing a gorgeous violet long skirt, with dark and bright black hair, high nose bridge, deep eyes, white skin and wide forehead.

A very beautiful young woman, twenty-two or three years old, looks like a Latin American woman with mixed-race characteristics, and a little like an aristocratic queen among vampires.

That kind of momentum really makes me feel special.

Seeing her, Hu Chuyuan felt that he was a little attracted!

The etiquette officer of the palace is introducing something. Chen Fang, the elderly sugar king of Hawaii, quietly translated with Hu Chuyuan: "Lord Zhongtang, this is Princess Victoria Kaorani, and she is also the only niece of Queen Liliukalani."

Oh?

It's still a princess!

Princes Kaolani came over and bowed to Hu Chuyuan slightly. When she looked up, she looked at Hu Chuyuan's eyes, which were also faintly wonderful, or dark and angry luster. In short, it was a kind of strange look worth playing.

She sat in the second seat of the dining table under the guidance of Queen Liliukalani, which happened to be opposite Hu Chuyuan's seat.

After everyone sat down, delicious and wonderful delicacies began to spread in this pocket court.

Hu Chuyuan is a leisurely person who has nothing to do with himself. He has no idea about the future of the Kingdom of Hawaii. On the contrary, he is very interested in tasting these delicious dishes. From time to time, he whispered his opinions with Pan Limei and asked about specific possible practices.

Wu Shuzhen attended the usual formal diplomatic occasions. She really felt that Pan Limei had suffered a lot in the past two years, so Hu Chuyuan specially took her out alone for a break.

For the first time to sit on such a stage, Pan Limei's heart is also extremely sweet.

The dishes served by the Royal Palace of Hawaii are really good.

After eating some local tropical fruits, a few pieces of Karua roast pig and a plate of seafood octopus soup, Hu Chuyuan felt a little full, but he still wanted to eat something else.

It's still quite delicious!

He was about to eat some more steamed meat slices called laulau with food such as Xiliu. Princess Kaolani, who was opposite, suddenly hit the crystal cup with a silver spoon and said with a mysterious smile, "............&&××!"

Hu Chuyuan didn't understand.

Chen Long, who sat behind him as a translator, immediately interpreted the indigenous language. It turned out to welcome Hu Chuyuan and the visiting fleet of the Qing Empire.

Hu Chuyuan nodded politely, thanking Princess Caolani's gratitude, and then said some polite words to his surname. When he sat down again, Queen Liliukalani also began to talk to him in English, so that he could not continue to eat with his heart.

There is no doubt that Queen Liliukalani has finally realized what a powerful country the Qing Empire is. She can't wait to win over the Qing Empire to balance the Americans, especially those who are stationed in the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Hu Chuyuan nodded with a smile, but he didn't say anything.

It's really unnecessary to talk about things that are too complicated at such a state banquet. Besides, he really doesn't care much about the future of the Kingdom of Hawaii, unless this small island country can be sold to him... Money is still easy to say.

That's not bad. You can live here and enjoy the world and life in the future.

Although such an experience is a little bloody, it is also a wonderful life!

Queen Liliukalani said a lot of admiration for the Qing Empire and appreciating the local Chinese, which seemed a little flattering, but she also maintained her courage and condescending feeling as the queen of a country, although all her citizens added up to only 100,000 people.

Hu Chuyuan didn't say anything.

After the state banquet, Hu Chuyuan lived in the royal palace. There were not many rooms, and it was barely enough.

The next morning, after Hu Chuyuan got up, he walked casually in the garden and picked up a set of gossip palms to strengthen his body.

At this time, Chen Fang, the sugar king of Hawaii, and his eldest son Chen Long also came in. Accompanied by Li Cunyi, they quietly waited in the corridor and watched Hu Chuyuan punch.

After sweating all over, Hu Chuyuan took a hot towel from Li Cunyi's hand and wiped it slightly. Then he motioned Chen Fang and his son to come and sit down.

In a large pavilion, Hu Chuyuan ate some fruit and made a pot of Huangshan Taiping Monkey Kui. This is a new kind of tea that has only appeared in recent years. It has a long-lasting fragrance and a goose yellow soup color. It is a white tea.

Hu Chuyuan invited Chen Fang and his son to drink Monkey Kui together. After a while, he asked Chen Fang, "Who is the main politician here?"

Chen Fang smiled bitterly and said, "No for the time being. The American Church and the Long Gun Party often send so-called consultants. We are here... Zhang Renkang has always been secretly in charge. Huang Xibao is the main person in charge of Fuqing Society, but the queen herself still believes in our father and son."

Hu Chuyuan thought about it a little.

Zhang Renkang and Huang Xibao are both members of the first batch of young children in the United States.

In fact, the first batch of young children studying in the United States generally did not return to China. Half of them continued to stay in the United States, and the other half went to Europe one after another. Some of them served as consular positions, some of whom continued their further study, and a small number of them, such as Zhan Tianyou, Pan Mingzhong, Wu Yangzeng and others returned to China to serve as technicians.

Especially under the influence of Ouyang Geng, Lu Guangquan, Huang Zhongliang and others, most of them have joined the Fuxing Society, and some people, such as Cao Jifu and others, want to go to the constitutional monarchy.

Zhang Renkang is the head of the Hawaii branch of the China League Association. He is responsible for organizing local Chinese to protect their rights and interests. Huang Xibao is the soul of Fuqing Society... Military division, and is responsible for organizing branch forces in Hawaii, trying to turn Hawaii into a new Borneo.

After thinking about it for a while, Hu Chuyuan asked Chen Fang to send someone to invite Zhang Renkang and Huang Xibao over.

These two people knew that Hu Chuyuan was coming. They thought that Hu Chuyuan would still live in the villa of the Chen family. They lived there in advance, but they didn't expect that the royal family would invite Hu Chuyuan's family to live in the palace.

To be honest, the size of this palace is not as large as Villa Nua.

In order to welcome Hu Chuyuan's visit, Chen Fang specially expanded the villa last year.

Fortunately, they were not far away. After waiting for a while, Zhang Renkang and Huang Xibao hurriedly rode over. As soon as they entered the garden, they quickly came to see Hu Chuyuan.

Hu Chuyuan asked them to sit down and continue to make tea for them.

After a while, Hu Chuyuan and Zhang Renkang said, "The goal of my diplomatic visit is very simple, which is to ensure that all countries recognize that Guam belongs to China. In addition, it would be great if Spain and Germany could sell the Caroling Islands and the Marshall Islands to us. Therefore, the problem of the Kingdom of Hawaii is really not the focus of my visit this time... To be honest, I just come here for a vacation and play for a few days.

When everyone heard this, they all nodded silently.

They know that considering the long-term relationship between China and the United States and the special close relationship they have maintained so far, neither Qing Zheng Axe nor Hu Chuyuan will raise any objection to the occupation of Hawaii by the United States.

Zhang Renkang thought for a moment and analyzed with Hu Chuyuan: "Lord Zhongtang, I don't think that the American political axe has no intention to really occupy Hawaii at present, at least it will not send troops in public. Can you see if you can officially set up an embassy in Hawaii to influence and protect the Kingdom of Hawaii from the perspective of political axe?

Hu Chuyuan nodded slightly, but did not agree hastily.

The things in the Kingdom of Hawaii are all done by the Chinese League itself, especially Zhang Lingpu and Zhang Bishi, who contribute to others and want to control Hawaii in the whole economy. In fact, they did it.

After weighing it in his heart, Hu Chuyuancai and Zhang Renkang said, "Well, I will test their bottom line after I go to the United States. If it is feasible, I will send a telegram to the court, and the Consulate General of San Francisco will send personnel to set up a Consulate General here first, with you as the Consul General. Let's talk about the specific matter when we get to the United States. The question at the point is, what is the power of the Americans here?

Zhang Renkang said, "It's far worse than us. There are nearly 100,000 residents in Hawaii, and we account for more than half of them. Most of them are from Guangdong and Fujian. In the past two years, there have also been some businessmen from Huizhou and Zhejiang who run timber and sugar businesses here."

Hu Chuyuan said oh, he thought that the Americans did not dare to make a bigger move. The key was that there were too many Chinese. With the rapid expansion of the naval strength of the Qingzheng Axe, which has exceeded the current level of the United States, the Americans must also be imagging the bottom line of the Qingzheng Axe.

After thinking about it, he said to Zhang Renkang, "Then help the Kingdom of Hawaii build an army. The scale doesn't need to be too big. Three or four thousand people, just be well-equipped."

Zhang Renkang nodded and was secretly happy.

Hu Chuyuan is an invisible emperor. As soon as he opens his mouth, others can do things well.

However, Hu Chuyuan really doesn't think much about Hawaii.

At noon, Hu Chuyuan was going to take his family to the villa of Nua. The size of the Iolani Palace was a little small, and he was not used to it.

He was about to leave when the beautiful Princess Kaolani came to find him alone.

Princess Kaorani is a beautiful girl, because her uncle is an American. She has lived in the United States since she was a child and lives with her aunts. She is educated by the church in the United States.

There is a rumor that the American church organization hopes to persuade Princess Kaorani to "dedicate" the Kingdom of Hawaii to the church and protect the rights and interests of the American religious people through such an educational background.

Entering the courtyard where Hu Chuyuan lived, Princess Kaolani slowly opened a precious black folding fan made of sandalwood and looked over it faintly, as if she was scratching something.

It happened that Hu Chuyuan came out... He was about to say goodbye to the royal family.

The two looked at each other, and Hu Chuyuan immediately bowed his head politely and said, "Your Highness, how are you?"

"Hello!"

Princess Kaolani smiled interestingly, and there was a trace of tension in her seemingly leisurely posture. It seemed that she probably knew what Hu Chuyuan meant, and she could no longer maintain her arrogant and charming charm like yesterday.

She closed the fan and suddenly said in English, "Mr. Hu, it is really interesting to hear that you are going to visit Europe and the United States on the order of your emperor, and you are carrying such a large and charming beautiful fleet. With all due respect, would you like to introduce your fleet to me in detail?"

Hu Chuyuan thought for a moment and said, "Of course!"

He didn't expect the poor semi-professional escort force of the Hawaiian royal family. He gave a look and asked Chen Shanyuan, the general of the Fuwei Camp, to arrange the trip temporarily.

Although Pearl Harbor at this time nominally belonged to the Spanish, the actual garrison had already been Americanized, but the U.S. Navy only had a few old cruisers here.

(to be continued)