Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 448 The Maine Incident

In the upper study room of the Forbidden City in Beijing, Guan Xuqing stared at Zhao Bingjun solemnly, and said after a while, "So, the Americans have been frequently coming and going to Nanyang recently, what exactly are they going to do?"

"I have already sent people to investigate secretly. The merchant ships of those American merchants are filled with chemical raw materials. It is reasonable to say that these chemical raw materials are poisonous. According to the trade law of the empire, imports must also be verified by the Imperial General Tax Department. Since there are no entry procedures for these goods, I asked the people at the customs to seize all the goods. However, the Nanyang region controls the southern gateway of the empire. I dare to assert that such illegal trade still exists, and it is not Therefore, I suggest that the General Tax Department should set up a Customs Inspection Office in Nanyang to strengthen the inspection of imported and exported goods."

Guan Xuqing pondered for a while and said: "Recently, Americans have repeatedly made negative remarks against China in the world, saying that China is the most authoritarian and authoritarian country in the world, and demanding that China return human rights to the people. Zhian, what is this? This is a naked provocation by the Americans against China’s sovereignty. Your suggestion is good. Then I issued an edict ordering the General Taxation Department to establish an inspection office in Nanyang to inspect imported and exported goods, especially American goods. At the same time, I sent a telegram to Yuan Shikai. , Feng Guozhang, and Duan Qirui, Nanyang is the southern gate of the empire, and there must be no mistakes. Although one official must benefit one party, one cannot blindly pursue economic interests while ignoring security and defense."

"twitter."

Guan Xuqing was silent for a while, and suddenly gritted his teeth, "The Americans dare to provoke our country frequently. They are looking for death. I heard that the largest arms dealer in the United States is the DuPont family. This family is always thinking about launching a war and reaping the benefits of the war. , I can give it to him, but I need him to pay a high price." Guan Xuqing waved at Zhao Bingjun, and Zhao Bingjun leaned closer to listen carefully to the emperor's instructions.

Although Zhao Bingjun has been with the emperor for many years, he still couldn't help admiring what the emperor said at this time, and said: "The emperor really sees thousands of miles, and how many ministers can't do it."

Guan Xuqing laughed loudly.

On November 1900, 11, an American cruiser moored in the port of Havana, the capital of Cuba.The warship named "Maine" arrived in this country enslaved by Spanish colonialists under the pretext of protecting its own interests in Cuba and the safety of its nationals.

At that time, Cuba was a Spanish colony.In order to fight for national independence and national freedom, the Cuban people set off an uprising against the Spanish colonists, and the country was in chaos.Now, the emerging United States has finally provided an opportunity to take advantage of it.They have long coveted Cuba at their doorstep.As early as [-], U.S. President Jefferson stated nakedly that once he fought against Spain, he would first occupy Cuba.Later, the United States tried to buy or seize Cuba by force many times, but all failed because the Spanish colonists were unwilling to give up their vested interests.

In [-], after the outbreak of the Cuban War of Independence, the United States watched from the sidelines.did not aid Cuba.However, at the beginning of [-], the situation changed suddenly, and the Cuban revolution was about to eliminate the Spanish colonial rule. So the United States hastily sent the first warship "Maine" to the port of Havana under the pretext of "helping the Cuban revolution" and protecting its own nationals. , put pressure on Spain.

That night, the port of Havana was quiet, only the sea breeze caressing the surface of the sea, making a beautiful sound of waves.An old lighthouse overlooks the sea. Under the flickering lights, hundreds of ships can be seen faintly on the sea.In the quiet harbor, the USS "Maine" cruiser was moored on the sea, and the US Navy soldiers on the deck were singing and dancing, drinking and laughing, enjoying the quiet and cool night scene, and relaxing their tired bodies.

At 9:40 pm, for many people in Havana, the colorful nightlife has just begun.People love Havana because it's a hedonist's paradise.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and the huge explosion shrouded the whole city in shock. This gentle town in the Caribbean seemed to be awakened by God's huge cough.The explosion came from the port.As long as they are not idiots, most Cubans and Spaniards immediately realized: something big happened!

The "Maine" trembled violently, and suddenly thick smoke billowed and flames shot into the sky, and the entire warship turned into a ball of fire.The officers and soldiers didn't know what happened, shouted and ran for their lives.An officer didn't lose his sense of control, and shouted loudly: "Hurry up and put out the fire! Don't run around!" But the soldiers heard his cry and jumped into the sea desperately.The officer had no choice but to grab the two running soldiers beside him and ordered them to fight the fire.The two soldiers had no choice but to pull out a water dragon from the cabin. Just after extinguishing a little bit, there was another loud noise, and the whole warship slowly tilted to the right.Seeing that the situation was over, everyone jumped into the sea to flee for their lives.Submarine cables to every corner of the globe.The news of the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana was quickly sent to the whole world through the submarine cable. Sky Radio even interviewed the scene at the first time. The port of Havana was described as a hell on earth by the vivid announcer.

Zhao Bingjun reported the news to the emperor at the first time, Guan Xuqing clapped his hands and laughed: "Send instructions to the branch of the Imperial Investment Bank on Wall Street, steel, copper, gunpowder, textiles, military industry, in short, any kind of stock that is closely related to war. You can only buy but not sell. Of course, you can also try commodity futures trading.”

Zhao Bingjun was stunned for a moment: "Your Majesty, now that the Maine has been bombed, and the Spanish-American War may break out at any time, why do we still buy so many American stocks?"

Guan Xuqing sneered and said: "Once the war breaks out, these military products will immediately roll and soar upwards. When they reach the highest point, we will sell all these stocks in one fell swoop. Calculate how much money we can make. By then, Wall Street will It will take a huge impact on your finances. Zhian, this is thanks to you."

Zhao Bingjun thought for a while, and suddenly realized, "The emperor is wise, the emperor is wise!"

Guan Xuqing said in a word: "Even if the Americans can win this war, I will ask him to pay a heavy price. Once the war starts, DuPont will get huge orders from the United States and the military. If it is sold off, the market value of the DuPont family will shrink to a horrible level overnight!"

At this time, Morgan's judgment in London was not as clear as that of the Chinese emperor. His judgment was that the United States would not easily launch a war against Spain, and that would be an unwise choice.In fact, it was Rockefeller who paid the most attention to the situation in Cuba, because Rockefeller had invested $3000 million in assets in Cuba's tobacco and sugar manufacturing industries. Taking advantage of Cuba's cheap labor, this high-quality asset made an annual profit of about $250 million. about.Today, the situation in Cuba has seriously threatened its property.

A day later, Zhao Bingjun came to see the emperor excitedly.

Guan Xuqing couldn't wait to ask: "How is the market going?"

Zhao Bingjun said: "Like dead silence, the trading volume has actually shrunk. Many small speculators have suspended trading because they couldn't understand the situation. And people like to speculate in the footsteps of Morgan, because Morgan is still in the UK and has not returned. People It’s at a loss!”

Guan Xuqing asked slowly, "Have major shareholders like Rockefeller made any moves?"

Zhao Bingjun said with a worried face: "Every day in the New York Stock Exchange, Rockefeller's people frequently buy large orders to buy stocks, and the stocks they buy are almost the same as ours!"

Guan Xuqing nodded and said, "Rockefeller is really an old fox who ordered the people over there to sell all the stocks they bought today, and then buy a lot of them tomorrow."

Zhao Bingjun was startled, and asked without knowing why: "Your Majesty, why is this?"

"The old fox of Rockefeller is also waiting and watching. It is because he is not sure about the market that he will follow us to buy. If we sell and then buy, he will think that we are also hesitating. In this case, the old fox will He did not dare to follow up rashly. For Rockefeller, who has always been cautious, he would definitely not take risks. He would definitely sell all the military stocks. In addition, he could not just buy in the name of the Imperial Investment Bank, but also launched American small and medium-sized enterprises controlled by the empire should join the ranks together, otherwise it would be easy to attract attention."

"Cha. I'll do it now."

On this day, the editorial department of The New York Times Company suddenly received an anonymous letter.When the editors saw the content of the letter clearly, they hesitated to decide whether it could be published.They showed the letter to Miller to decide.

After Miller read the letter, his eyes couldn't help but brighten up. The content of this letter was a personal letter from the Spanish ambassador to the United States, De Molo.There is no lack of political commentary in the content.Among them, there is a taste of insulting the US President Roosevelt.Originally, this was a personal letter, which is why De Molo was so unscrupulous.Unexpectedly, after discovering the letter, Cuban spies intercepted it halfway, copied the contents, and sent it to several newspaper offices in New York.

After confirming through some channels, Miller said sure enough: "Publish it, it must be published in the headline news!"

On November 11, the "New York Times" began to publish the letter from the Spanish Minister, and published some comments.

The Spanish Minister to the United States, De Molo, commented on President Roosevelt's New Year's address in a private letter from a friend, saying that Roosevelt was "a political liar who wants to open his own back door and arms with him." Good relationship with merchants."

This letter caused an uproar, and the anti-Spanish atmosphere in the United States suddenly heated up.

Then, Roosevelt was extremely dissatisfied with the Spaniards.Not only did it put more pressure on the Spaniards diplomatically, but at home, Roosevelt and the Wall Street oligarchs took the opportunity to manipulate public opinion and create more intense American people's hostility towards Spain.

Roosevelt campaigned for the major newspapers in New York. The "New York Times", Hearst's "New York News", and Pulitzer's "Le Monde" published articles on sending warships to Cuba for armed intervention and maintaining the safety of overseas Chinese. necessity.

But this incident made Mo Luo very puzzled. He had never written this letter himself. How could this letter appear out of thin air under his own name?Fortunately, once the letter was sent out, the world's major media reprinted it one after another. For a while, Molo was sought after by countless Spaniards, and major Spanish newspapers even hailed Molo as a hero.This unexpected honor made Mo Luo very happy, and naturally he was happy to accept this fact.

(End of this chapter)