Volume 1: The Battleship Yitian Changes into the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 Chapter 88 Overseas Chinese Protection Operation
Half a month later, the "Oriental Princess" returned, along with many merchant ships.
In fact, Sun Gang regretted his decision two days after Ma Yue left. Although a small naval fleet might not be able to deal with the firepower and speed of the "Oriental Princess", there are many Once a conflict occurs, the shells are no joke. As a result, he was restless during the days when his beloved wife left. He swore to himself more than once that if he let her go out to sea again, he would twist his head off.
So, when he learned that "Her Royal Highness" had returned, his first reaction was to rush to the dock.
When he saw that Ma Yue was safe and sound, just a little tanned, but with a little more heroic spirit between her brows, he no longer cared about being surprised, and rushed over to her and hugged her tightly in his arms.
After three days of separation, she felt like she was just married. It was probably unprecedented for the Minister of the Beiyang Shipbuilding Bureau of the Qing Dynasty to express his love to his wife so publicly on the dock.
It was not until he heard thunderous applause from the foreign sailors on the ship that he embarrassedly let go of Ma Yue, who was almost out of breath.
"Why did you take so long?" He looked at her reproachfully, "Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine." She smiled slightly, "It's just that I'm afraid I've gone a little too far this time."
Only after she told him what had happened did Sun Gang understand what had happened.
The "Oriental Princess" escorted the merchant ship all the way. When they arrived at the waters near Java, pirates rushed up for unknown reasons to "rob". When they saw a cruiser flying a red dragon flag, they were immediately "furious". It was too late to escape. The "Oriental Princess" unceremoniously fired a volley of cannons and sent them all to the bottom of the sea. When the "beautiful commander" was proudly preparing to escort the merchant ship forward, the passing fishing boats and merchant ships saw the "Oriental Princess" with the dragon flag flying and cried out the pirates' crimes, demanded protection, and provided the "Oriental Princess" with The "beautiful commander" found the approximate locations of some pirate nests. Seeing that most of the people on these fishing boats and merchant ships were Chinese, she was "overflowing" with sympathy for a moment and ordered the elimination of these pirates. Coincidentally, Robert, the French naval captain who was acting as the captain, had served in the French Far East Fleet (also known as the "Tokyo Fleet") and was very familiar with the water conditions in this area. Under the guidance of the fishermen, he successfully found several pirate strongholds and flattened them all with a fierce bombardment. Seeing so many merchant ships asking for protection, the "beautiful commander" followed the "principle" of "doing good things to the end and sending the Buddha to the west", and sent them to the West. They were all safely escorted to their destination, Sanbao Long. The local Dutch colonial authorities were shocked to see the warships flying the Qing merchant flag, and sent people to contact them and expressed their "welcome ". Just as Ma Yue was about to wait for the merchant ship to complete the transaction and return, the local overseas Chinese saw the dragon flag and thought that it was the motherland's navy coming to protect them. They came with their elderly and children, crying about the inhuman persecution suffered by overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia in various places, asking for the motherland's protection, and also submitted a "petition". Ma Yue immediately "went crazy" after reading it, and immediately negotiated with the Dutch colonial authorities. The Dutch colonial authorities never figured out this They didn't know where the "merchant ship" came from (the captain was French, but the owner was a Chinese woman), but facing the black muzzle of the gun that was aimed at their home (the Chinese sailors and gunners were furious when they learned of the situation, and regardless of the dissuasion of foreign officers and soldiers, they had loaded the shells and were ready to open fire and fight to the death if the Dutch said "no"), the Dutch should have been busy suppressing the Acehnese uprising at that time, and only some small ships were parked there, and no one dared to approach, so the Dutch colonial authorities stated on the spot that they would not "persecute" the Chinese in the future, and wrote a written guarantee to settle the matter.
"On the day we left, they came to see us off. So many people knelt on the shore and cried. The sound of their cries could be heard for miles. That's when I realized there were so many Chinese in Southeast Asia." Ma Yue looked at him and said, "I didn't dare to look at them. I hid in the cabin the whole time and didn't dare to come out until we were far away."
Sun Gang looked at her eyes which were bright and seemed to be sparkling, and her voice was a little choked, and he could not help but hold her hand.
"I haven't caused you any trouble, have I?" she asked carefully.
"You did the right thing. If I were there, I would have bombarded the Dutch with cannons long ago." Sun Gang "comforted" her viciously.
Little did he know that the trouble she caused this time was bigger than any other time.
Although you can say these words to comfort her, it will be a headache if it causes diplomatic trouble. Although the Dutch have now become an insignificant role among the Western powers and are now troubled , the fact that a Chinese "quasi-warship" almost attacked them may be known by other powers and used as a tool.
After thinking about it, he immediately informed Li Hongzhang of the whole story.
Li Hongzhang quickly replied with a telegram, "The General Administration has negotiated with the Dutch on this matter, don't worry." Then he teased him, "What's the use of sending a weak and fragile person to sail thousands of miles alone, to show your power in foreign lands, and to plead for the people overseas? Just build your ship well and don't lose it. The rest is none of your business."
"What does Li Zhongtang mean?" Ma Yue asked curiously, "Is he praising us or scolding us?"
"Who cares? He'll be the one to take responsibility if anything goes wrong." Sun Gang said as he put down the telegram. He didn't understand what the old fox meant.
"It just so happens that the route from Dalian Bay to Nanyang has been opened. In order to ensure the safety of the route, the 'Oriental Princess' must escort on this route." Ma Yue said angrily : "Those Chinese are too pitiful. We should find a way to protect them."
Sun Gang understood her intentions. He had read the "petition" and asked someone to pass it to Li Hongzhang. He dared not look at the words on it, "...whenever there is a disaster, the Chinese will bear the brunt. Shops are burned down, property is lost, wives and daughters are humiliated. The Dutch instigated the mob. More than 800 Chinese houses were burned down in one night. More than 300 women were raped and tortured to death. There are so many tragic situations that cannot be described in detail..."
"The 'Oriental Princess' can't protect so many people." Sun Gang said helplessly: "Besides, she can't represent the court."
"Anyway, I promised them and I have to keep my word!" Ma Yue said angrily.
"Don't worry, give me some time to think about it." Sun Gang comforted her and told her some stories about overseas Chinese. She had just started to develop overseas trade and only then did she know that such tragic things were everywhere overseas, not just in Nanyang!
Since ancient times, there have been a large number of overseas Chinese living in Southeast Asia. There are many people and little land in the southeastern coastal areas of China, so people have always had the habit of going abroad to make a living. However, at the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, a strict maritime ban was imposed, stipulating that coastal residents were not allowed to go out to sea privately, and "anyone who dares to trade with foreign countries privately will be severely punished." At the beginning of the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, a strict policy of isolation was also implemented, and the maritime ban was repeatedly strictly enforced, and even an order was issued that "no sail or board is allowed to go to sea." The management and prohibition of foreign trade was so strict, and the Qing Dynasty rulers were of course even more hostile to those who tried every means to cross the ocean to make a living in the "foreign" and "barbarian" lands. In the early Qing Dynasty, it was stipulated that any official, soldier or civilian who went out to sea for trade privately or moved to live on an island would be executed as a traitor or collaborator with the enemy, and any Chinese who did not return to the "foreign" country under the pretext of an excuse would be executed on the spot once they returned to China. In the fifth year of Qianlong's reign (1740), Dutch colonists massacred tens of thousands of Chinese in Java, which is the famous "Red River Massacre" in history. When the news reached the country, Emperor Qianlong actually said: "The Celestial Empire has abandoned its people and is not hesitant to abandon their ancestors' tombs and go abroad to seek profit, and the court does not care at all." To Sun Gang, a time traveler, this attitude of the court towards overseas Chinese is simply incomprehensible.
This was the case during the "Golden Age of Emperor Qianlong". Now, in an era when our motherland is facing internal and external troubles, one can imagine the status of these "abandoned people of the Celestial Empire" overseas.
The same thing happened not only in Southeast Asia, but also in America.
In fact, as early as after the Second Opium War, Britain and France, with the help of their victory in the war, forced the Qing government to write "allowing Chinese people to work in other places overseas" into the 1860 "Treaty of Beijing", making the trade of trafficking contract Chinese workers for profit that had appeared on the coast of China since the 18th century legal. Since then, Western colonists have flocked to it. Peru in South America is a major participant. But in the competition with Western powers for labor, Peru is not at an advantage. The Qing government's regulation that "all countries without contracts are not allowed to set up agencies to recruit workers" forced Peruvian plantation owners to obtain Chinese workers through illegal means. In order to ensure huge profits, Peru adopted more brutal and barbaric methods in recruiting, trafficking, and exploiting Chinese workers. Many of these Chinese workers were lured and kidnapped, and they were usually concentrated in rooms with very poor conditions before waiting for the Peruvian ships to set sail. Almost all coolie ships heading to Peru were overloaded, and each Chinese worker could only get a small area to eat and sleep. The extremely harsh cabin environment and living conditions caused the death rate of Chinese workers to reach an alarming level. Most of those who managed to reach Peru alive were sold to work in plantations and guano fields, where they generally suffered ruthless exploitation, poor treatment and cruel punishment.
When the miserable plight of overseas Chinese workers was revealed bit by bit, Li Hongzhang was extremely angry and tried every means to lend a helping hand. In 1873, he began a long and arduous negotiation with the Peruvian government on this issue, and decided to ensure the interests of overseas Chinese by means of "signing treaties" and "setting up consulates". Li Hongzhang pointed out in his memorial, "But if I don't have envoys there, the Chinese workers will be 70,000 to 80,000 miles away. How can you know whether they are protected or not, and whether the abuses are eliminated? Even if you know it, how can you save them?" However, the establishment of a consulate in Peru was opposed by the Qingliu diehards. For example, Guanglu Doctor Liu Xihong believed that: "Sending envoys is only for the purpose of maintaining friendly relations. Nowadays, there are many Chinese people who have fled to various countries and islands. They are all rogues and stubborn, unable to make a living in their hometowns, and then they fled to overseas.", "If they have already become barbarians, they can be treated as barbarians" (such people really should be killed with a stick). However, with the efforts of Li Hongzhang and the officials of the Westernization Movement, the "signing of the contract and setting up of the consulate" was finally realized. In the late 1870s, the conditions of Chinese workers in Peru had improved greatly. Many early Chinese workers' contracts expired and they began to engage in free labor and accumulate money. They also received better treatment because of the "Sino-Peruvian Treaty".
The old fox has gone to great lengths to sort out the situation in Peru, but as the saying goes, "when you try to suppress one problem, another one pops up", something has happened in the United States again.
