The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 370 The Empire of the Ocean

At three o'clock in the afternoon on March 1736, 3, the cargo ship "Long Grace" arrived at Qingdian Port on Tianya Island (now Stanley Town, East Falkland Island), preparing to receive a batch of wool and whale oil.

The cold and humid climate, strong westerly winds, and sparse ships and residents make this territory, which is the most remote from the mainland of Qing State, even more desolate.

The Dongsheng Islands (i.e. the Falkland Islands), including Tianya Island, were first discovered by the Englishman John Davis in 1592, but the person who actually observed and confirmed the islands up close was the Dutchman Wilder.

When the Qing Kingdom gradually gained a foothold in Mozhou and the Polar Islands (i.e. the Tierra del Fuego), in order to open up new sources of income, it organized a group of whaling ships to hunt whales, seals, and walruses in the waters near Mozhou and the South Atlantic.

In 1675, some whaling ships discovered the archipelago and used it as an anchorage and hunting base. They set up a temporary camp near the northeast coast of Tianya Island to boil whale oil and process seal skins.

Three years later, the Qing government sent several officials to Tianya Island, relocated dozens of households, established a simple administrative agency, and officially incorporated the archipelago into its territory.

Dongsheng Islands has a cold and humid climate, low average annual temperature, and about 250 days of rain and snow a year, which is not suitable for large-scale development and immigration. More than years have passed, and the population of such a large archipelago is only more than people, most of whom are forced to migrate to the native Indians and exiled prisoners.

Because there is not much population, there is naturally no economic development, materials are extremely scarce, and the prices of goods on the island are ridiculously high.

Fortunately, the archipelago has vast land with low shrubs and meadows everywhere, which is very suitable for sheep grazing. With government funding, hundreds of residents have raised nearly 50,000 sheep, producing hundreds of tons of wool and mutton each year, which can be exchanged for much-needed daily necessities.

Yan Dexuan, wearing a thick fur coat, stood on the side of the boat, looking at the foggy Qingdian Harbor, without saying a word for a long time.

After a stalemate and tug-of-war, Yan Dexuan finally chose to give up the generous treatment of Zhongjing University with two "like-minded" people, leave Qing State with his family and return to Qi State.

To be honest, the moment he boarded the freighter, he felt a trace of regret and melancholy deep in his heart.

Seven years ago, they were just ordinary teachers in unknown local universities in Hanzhou. Faced with the temptation of extremely favorable recruitment conditions in Qing Country, they resolutely brought their families and braved the hardships to travel across the ocean to this remote continent, starting an unusual teaching experience.

From being unknown in their native Hanzhou to being highly respected and admired in Qingguo, coupled with generous and favorable treatment, these "scholars" from their motherland instantly felt an inexplicable excitement and excitement.

With the meticulous care of the Qing government and the university, Yan Dexuan and his party, with the most simple emotion of literati, immediately developed the urge of "a scholar will die for his friend", and they wanted to teach all they had learned in their life in order to improve the education and technological level of Qing University to the greatest extent.

Well, as the saying goes, if you treat me like a national hero, I should repay you like a national hero!
Even at some point, Yan Dexuan thought about settling down in Qing State and dedicating his entire life to this vassal state of the Great Qi.

However, after all, he had received decades of national education in Hanzhou and had a strong sense of national identity and national identity in his heart. He thought that there seemed to be something wrong with his wholehearted allegiance to Qing Kingdom.

But he kept making excuses for himself, saying that Qing Kingdom and Da Qi were both of the Chinese ethnicity, so they were of the same roots and had two branches. Moreover, the king of Qing Kingdom had the blood of Taizu, so there was nothing wrong with him devoting himself to the country and helping it wholeheartedly.

Perhaps it was because of this thought that they felt that their destiny should be closely linked with that of Qing State. In addition to teaching and scientific research, they also made suggestions to the education department and cabinet government of Qing State from time to time, hoping that this country would become richer, freer, and more civilized, preferably like Qi State.

Of course, as high-end talents introduced from Qi, some of their suggestions were highly valued by the Qing government and implemented one by one, such as setting up sub-research institutes in the Royal Science Foundation and universities, establishing the Qing Highest Achievement Award modeled after the Qi Royal Science Award, encouraging private scientific and technological inventions, funding and supporting private trading companies and factories to improve and upgrade production technology and processes through tax exemptions and low-interest loans, and granting royal titles to experts and scholars with outstanding contributions...

Perhaps because their suggestions were recognized by the Qing government and officials time and time again, some scholars from Hanzhou seemed to have become a little carried away and thought they could change certain policies or governance methods of Qing.

A few months ago, the Rui'an Governorate of Qi announced the abolition of slavery within its jurisdiction, allowing Yan Dexuan and others to immediately capture this sensitive topic.

In their eyes, slavery is such a cruel and ignorant system that represents barbarism and backwardness and is contrary to moral concepts. It should have been abolished long ago.

However, in the Kingdom of Qing, abducting people into slavery, as well as the buying, selling, raising and exploiting of slaves were all legal and protected by the government and laws of Qing.

This is not the behavior of a civilized country and should be resolutely abolished.

Yan Dexuan, together with more than a dozen professors from Zhongjing University, made suggestions to the Qing government, requesting that slavery be abolished throughout the country in order to build a civilized, harmonious and modern country.

Not surprisingly, the Qing government politely rejected their proposal.

Perhaps it was because a scholar's self-esteem was hurt, and Yan Dexuan and others found it psychologically difficult to accept the rejection of the Qing government, so they made a not very rational move.

If Qing State does not abolish slavery, we will leave here and return to Qi State.

Shame on us for coexisting with a slave state!
Despite the persuasion of officials from Zhongjing University, the Ministry of Science and Education of Qing Kingdom, and many good friends, Yan Dexuan refused to compromise and insisted that his stay or departure would be determined by whether Qing Kingdom abolished slavery.

Things have come to this point, and it seems that everything is irreversible.

The Qing government would naturally not make a decision to abolish slavery because of the "idealism" of a few Qi scholars, so as not to cause major losses to the domestic economy. Yan Dexuan, out of his self-esteem as a scholar, would not suddenly change his attitude after making high-profile suggestions and stop there.

So, after the Lantern Festival, Yan Dexuan and others resigned from their positions, packed up their belongings, and after waiting for ten days, they boarded a cargo ship bound for Qianzhou.

Although they verbally claimed that they would transit through Qianzhou and then return to Hanzhou, in fact, after weighing the pros and cons, they decided to go to Qianzhou first to look for opportunities and try to apply for a position in several local universities.

Yes, with their qualifications and academic level, they could find a good teaching job if they returned to Hanzhou, but the treatment and status they could enjoy would probably not be comparable to that of Qing State.

In that case, why not try your luck in Qianzhou, a place full of gold and diamonds?

It is said that several governorates in the area have established more than ten public and private universities, and they must be eager to recruit all kinds of experts and scholars. Maybe you can get a well-paid job there.

In short, with our abilities, even if we can no longer obtain the same treatment and status as that given by Qing Country, we will not have trouble finding a good job in any country or region in the world.

Goodbye, Qing Kingdom, a country that makes people love and hate it.
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Ever since the people of Qi moved the steam engine onto the ship, maritime transportation has become increasingly efficient, and it has also freed people from the constraints of wind direction and ocean currents, thereby opening up countless new sea routes.

Before this, the route from America (South America) to Africa was nothing more than taking the North and South equatorial warm currents, or the roaring westerly drift belt, relying on the strong monsoon, and then setting sail in specific months to complete a difficult sea journey.

With the help of steam engines, merchant ships can set sail directly from any port - even if the port is not in the ocean current or monsoon area of ​​the season - and then spew out huge puffs of thick smoke, driven by powerful steam, and quickly sail towards their destination.

Steam power made all merchant ships more maneuverable, but it also made them dependent on coaling stations.

Fortunately, the Great Qi Empire's naval bases are everywhere, and many strategically important islands or key ports have fallen into the hands of Qi at some point. As the empire's interests in distant places become increasingly greater, the safety of shipping routes naturally becomes a major concern for Chang'an's strategists.

Of course, this also shaped the empire's overseas expansion policy to a large extent. It seemed that every overseas territory occupied by the empire could be justified by the needs of the navy or merchants.

Everyone knows that the Da Qi Empire is actually a maritime empire.

The status of maritime hegemony allowed Qi to deploy combat troops on the front lines of any colonial territory, or to deter looting hostile forces with a powerful fleet. Since the Qi-British War, the prestige of the Qi Navy has become more and more awe-inspiring and fearful, and any decision involving the ocean is carefully considered in Qi's considerations.

Qi's maritime armed forces seemed to represent the power of the Great Qi Empire. It was increasingly involved in protecting the empire's trade outposts and trade routes, suppressing resistance and subversion by potential hostile forces, demonstrating the empire's powerful image, and even deterring those ignorant and ignorant natives.

A lot of the navy's strength was consumed in the empire's cannon diplomacy. This ubiquitous means of demonstrating the empire's prestige required the imperial navy to send a large number of warships to every corner of the world.

For example, the Imperial Navy currently has more than 40 warships stationed in Ryukyu and the Nanyang region, more than 46 deployed in the Indian Ocean region, 6 in the South Pacific and Zezhou of Qingguo (now southern Chile), 5 in the Hawaiian Islands and the west coast of Yinzhou (i.e. North America), 12 in the Mediterranean, 8 in Europe (mainly stationed in Ireland), 4 in the Caribbean, 5 in South America, and 11 in Qianzhou.

They may be called upon to perform various tasks at any time, including bombarding fierce and stubborn indigenous tribes, participating in major celebrations in the territory, deterring pirates, rescuing victims of typhoons or earthquakes, and escorting monarchs and important ministers of the princely kingdoms.

Many of these missions were not always directly related to “imperialism,” but they were all meant to showcase imperial might and pride at its best, reinforcing the illusion of Qi’s inescapable power.

Sea power is the foundation of the Great Qi Empire. Today, the existence of empires all over the world is also indispensable to sea power. This is the closed loop of the empire.

By the 1930s, this system was almost complete. Qi could monitor and maintain order in the Mediterranean from the Strait of Gibraltar, Zhongyang Island (now Malta) and Sicily, control the North Atlantic from Chenzhou to Qiongzhou (now the Bahamas) and Rui'an, control the South Atlantic from Qingguo to Qianzhou, control the Red Sea from Jianmen (now Aden) to Guang'an (now Djibouti), control the Indian Ocean from India to Ceylon, and control the Pacific Ocean from Ryukyu to the Hawaiian Islands.

The empire's coaling points connected these scattered bases, distributed along the routes, and were everywhere. These coaling points had mountains of the best steam coal, as well as countless sweaty, dark-skinned coolies, all serving the empire's global strategy.

These bases are both new and old, and they have the characteristics of Qi State mixed with a little natural ocean order.

Compared with historical factors, it is more the authority and conquest of the empire that makes it natural for the red and yellow dragon flag of the Great Qi Empire to fly at these lookout points and key intersections in the ocean. Both the people of Qi and the local indigenous people regard it as a part of their lives.

On April 4, when the cargo ship "Chang'en" arrived at Huining Port (now Cape Town), Yan Dexuan saw a towering lighthouse from afar on the bow, as well as countless sails in the harbor and several red and yellow dragon flags flying high. For some reason, a feeling of excitement and pride suddenly burst out from him.

This is our country, a strong and great empire!
Unlike the people in Huining City of the Luzon Governorate (now Zamboanga City on Mindanao Island) who lived a hard and difficult colonization life, the tens of thousands of residents in this city in Qianzhou, also named Huining, lived a very refined and leisurely life because of the opening of the free port.

The old and warm house in the city has a garden, the floor is covered with red tiles, the furniture is made of basswood, and grape vines are winding under the eaves. The loyal family dog ​​wags its tail happily and follows closely behind. A few big white geese swim leisurely in the ditch in front of the house.

Decades ago, the reason why the Qi people appeared in Qianzhou and used various means to force the Dutch to "hand over" Huining Port and surrounding colonial territories was because of the Indian Ocean.

Well, India to be exact.

In order to drive more competitors out of the Indian Ocean, Qi had to block the passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean and control the Cape of Good Hope. After years of efforts, whether out of fear of Qi's naval strength or the temptation of Qi's economic and trade means, the Dutch finally chose to withdraw, allowing Qi to dominate South Africa and completely lock the most critical door to the rich Indian Ocean.

Many senior generals and officers serving in Europe, the Caribbean and the Atlantic islands would choose to rest and vacation in Huining - this was still an overseas territory of the empire and would not be counted as home leave, so they could also receive considerable overseas allowances.

Some people choose to settle in Qianzhou after retirement or discharge from the military. It is neither as humid and hot as the Caribbean and Atlantic islands, nor does it have the abnormal climate like the mainland. It is definitely a treasure land for spending the rest of their lives.

"I think we should be able to adapt to the environment and life here quickly." Yan Dexuan and his group got off the boat and stepped on the solid ground, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, "Because we are back in Qi, which is full of the atmosphere of freedom."

(End of this chapter)