The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 624
Out of respect for the Hawaiian royal family, Friedrich still chose to go to the palace to have an audience.

In fact, Kamehameha III waited for a long time outside the temporary camp of the Austrian army, but was politely invited back by the Austrian diplomat.

When Friedrich's team arrived in front of the Hawaiian palace, Kamehameha III and the queen had been waiting at the gate for a long time.

After a short but solemn ceremony, Friedrich came to the palace, accompanied by a group of guards and two diplomats.

First, diplomatic relations were established as a matter of routine, and then Friedrich came straight to the point about Faneuil.

"The 30-year land development agreement signed by our businessmen and your subjects, but in the past two years, your subjects have sub-leased the land to others and refused to compensate. I hope you can exercise your power fairly. "

King Kamehameha III was stunned. He didn't expect the civilians in his own country to be so fierce, people who he dared not offend, and they would dare to set up a trap for others.

"Well, in order to show my friendship to the Austrian Empire, I, Kamehameha III, officially grant your country consular jurisdiction on the land of Hawaii. What do you think?"

Friedrich and the other two diplomats were in a daze. They actually thought of a bunch of ways to get him to submit. It seemed that the other party was familiar with the road and willing to cooperate, which seemed to save a lot of trouble.

The entire negotiation was within Franz's plan, so a slap in the face could form a virtuous circle.

The Austrian Empire immediately put forward a proposal to develop Pearl Bay. Pearl Harbor is located on Huva Island and is named after its rich pearls.

It's just that the fishing efficiency of fishermen is too low, and at the same time, due to the special situation of the Kingdom of Hawaii, King Kamehameha III cannot benefit from it.

So when the Austrians made this suggestion, Kamehameha III's eyes immediately lit up, because the financial situation of the Kingdom of Hawaii is really bad.

Especially after the land was distributed to the people, the country's tax revenue almost collapsed, and almost all government revenue came from taxes on the royal family's own land and ports.

Franz aimed at this weakness. The financial revenue of the entire Kingdom of Hawaii is less than 15 US dollars, and the annual turnover of Hawaiian pearl trade is more than [-] US dollars.

How can this not make Kamehameha III jealous? The Austrian Empire promised that as long as the latter contracted Pearl Bay, the former would get a profit of [-] US dollars a year without paying a penny.

That doubled the country's finances. Kamehameha III immediately grabbed Friedrich's hand with red eyes, wishing he could kneel down and beg him.

You must know that mining pearls in this era requires a lot of manpower, and in order to protect your own interests and prevent others from stealing them, this is not a small cost.

Then there is the transportation and sale of pearls. Hawaiians can’t afford these things. The reality is that everyone can dig them by themselves, so who would buy them?

Since Hawaii is a small country in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, if you want to sell it, you must cross the wide ocean.

This was almost impossible in the eyes of the Hawaiians at the time. In fact, when the Europeans first came across the ocean, the local indigenous people regarded it as a god.

Moreover, sea transportation has a long cycle and uncertainty. If the ship capsizes, it will lose everything, or if the market is not good, it will lose everything.

Neither Kamehameha III nor any Hawaiian could bear these risks. If it hadn't been explained to him by his advisors, he wouldn't even have known that those little pearls could be sold at such a high price on the other side of the ocean. price.

Therefore, Kamehameha III was [-]% satisfied with the Austrian side's proposal at this time, and even felt a little bit guilty, but this feeling disappeared quickly because the Austrian side put forward new conditions.

The Austrian Empire wanted to nominate a customs chief, and Franz, like any other Westerner, needed a piece of the Hawaiian government.

Although the position of the General Director of Customs is much weaker than the positions of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Justice in terms of power, the Director of Customs has a lot of voice in the primitive government of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Of course, the great powers at this time hadn't noticed this, and Kamehameha III readily agreed to this seemingly insignificant position.

Kamehameha III at this time could not imagine the future of his kingdom depended on this institution.

As for the development of Pearl Bay, pearl mining is just a cover. Franz's goal is to control Pearl Harbor, a precious naval base in the Pacific.

Pearl Harbor stretches toward the interior of Hawaii like a spreading eagle claw. It is located at the lowest point of the plain between the Kolau Mountains and the Waianai Mountains on the south coast of Oahu Island. It is adjacent to the only deep-water port of Honolulu. It is also one of the largest and best safe ports of call in the North Pacific islands.

The actual basis is that it is now one of the most important ports of the United States in the Pacific Ocean.

Of course, even if the Austrian side only develops pearls, it can make some money. At this time, the decline in pearl mining on Hawaii Island is actually related to the plague that is prevalent on the island.

But these germs can only infect local aborigines, and have little effect on Westerners and Easterners.Franz can use Nanming's labor to mine pearls, which can be regarded as finding another way for them to get rich.

In addition, the mining efficiency of Nanming laborers is much higher than that of the natives, and it is also easier to train, and they will not take out pearls too roughly so that the quality will decline.

In addition to mining, Austria also has artificial breeding technology, which can also increase production.Moreover, Hawaiian pearls are of good quality and highly recognized by the market, and they are not hard-to-sell goods that unscrupulous businessmen say.

At the same time, Franz also has enough funds to eat the goods and ensure that they sell for their due value.

The first Director General of Customs was given to Thomas Faneuil. After all, what matters is not who does it, but which country this position belongs to.

After leaving the palace, Friedrich led his troops to find the native family, but the other party didn't seem to intend to communicate, and shot and wounded an accompanying officer with a bow and arrow.

Friedrich wasn't the kind of character who wouldn't fight back or curse. He immediately ordered to fight back and the bloody battle lasted all day and night.

The fighting power of the Polynesians was not built. They killed and wounded more than [-] Austrian soldiers. This made Friedrich very angry. You must know that the elites he brought were all the elites who were beaten to death by a group of natives. hurt so much.

Fortunately, the two adjutants prevented the Grand Duke from further expanding the incident in time, but this also forced Friedrich to consider the horror of jungle warfare.

He had always been lucky enough to think that the British on Kalimantan Island were mere fish, and their negligence led to their complete annihilation. Franz's speculation about jungle warfare was nothing more than alarmist talk.

But Friedrich, who had calmed down, began to rethink the matter again, but soon he came to another conclusion.

"Since fighting in the jungle is so terrifying, wouldn't it be good to be the ambush party?"

(End of this chapter)