"Hey, the deer roars, eating the apples of the wild. I have a guest, who plays the harp and sheng."

In June of the first year of Keio (1865), the Yokohama Luming Hall, which had just been completed, was full of lights and feasting, and Westerners were either dancing or talking.

But whether it was the businessmen who went to the Far East to prospect for gold or the officials from various countries' official offices in Yokohama, even when they were having fun, they were keeping a close eye on what was going on in the banquet center - there was no way, the Three Kingdoms of England, France and Miren

When the ministers get together, any major decision made by these three people can completely affect their own wealth and future.

“Unexpectedly, Luming Hall is well built.”

After hearing the words of Vanderbilt, the new minister of the Mi people, and Rossius, the Buddhist minister, his face immediately darkened. Mi people are the most annoying!

Luming Pavilion is well built, a purely Western two-story mansion with a Sardinian style mixed with British style. It cannot be said to be beautiful, but it is also magnificent, which shows the intentions of the Fuso Shogunate.

But the problem is, after this thing is built, the station in Yokohama is in trouble:

On June 25, 1863 (May 10th in the third year of Bunkyu), the Fuso Choshu Domain bombarded the Mi merchant ship "Pembroke" passing through the Shimonoseki Strait, launching Fuso's first campaign of force against the invaders.

On July 3, the British and Buddhist ministers joined forces and obtained the consent of the Edo shogunate. "In view of the turmoil, the two countries will station troops in Yokohama to protect the safety of overseas Chinese."

But the problem is that the acting minister of England, Neil, changed his mind at that time. At the end of the year, he actually agreed that in view of the peace sincerity of the Fuso Shogunate, a guild hall could be built to replace the original large-scale military buildings used for garrisoning.

It is said that this short-sighted decision made Berkut, his former minister of the Buddhist Kingdom, very angry at that time. But the British were powerful and Neil refused to change his mind, so this could only be the case.

When I arrived in Fusang in April 1864, I was still worried about this matter.

But after finally convincing the British minister Aliguo, who had returned from vacation, things changed again - in May of that year, there was internal strife in Fuso, and the "Aoi Festival Incident" took place in Kyoto.

Although the scale is small, all parties in Fuso, especially the white soldiers, showed extraordinary combat effectiveness.

Originally, Rosius sneered at this. These dwarfs were bragging for the sake of face, so what real materials could they have?

But the problem is that in August 1864, the White Army returned to Edo and led the new shogunate army to wipe out the Mito Tengu Party that had been in rebellion for four months in one month.

Of course, it is not surprising that the Tengu Party burned, killed, looted, failed or even suffered a quick defeat.

But then the white soldiers continued to guard Yokohama, and Rosius was shocked when he had the opportunity to see it with his own eyes - a repeating breech-loading gun, a breech-loading cannon with excellent airtightness, could this be a joke to me?

In the previously concluded Yarrow War and the Battle of Baliqiao in September 1860, the Anglo-French Allied Forces suffered heavy losses.

If we include the earlier Battle of Aihui, in May 1860, the Tang people armed with rifled guns defeated the Russian Far East invasion force.

Therefore, it is recognized by all countries that if there is no advantage in numbers and ordnance, then facing a sea of ​​people and harassment tactics will be a complete nightmare.

As a result, without the confidence to use force to persuade (blackmail), not to mention the British envoy Ali Guo turned back, even Rosius himself no longer threatened the shogunate.

As a result, the Yokohama Luming Hall, which replaced the Allied Forces Barracks, was built day by day.

Thinking of this, the Buddhist minister Rosius turned his eyes away from the American minister Little Vanderbilt to the British minister Neil.

Neil came to Fusang to take over from his predecessor Ali Guo, and he only arrived last month.

Neil, who has made a comeback, is happily communicating with young Vanderbilt. The two of them are talking nonsense about cultural exchanges and business cooperation with Fuso.

This Deer Ming Pavilion is Neil's proud creation.

Now that it has officially opened, it has provided a comfortable home for people from all over the world who are lonely in Yokohama. Especially for drinks and food, because of the subsidies from the Fuso Shogunate and the contributions of businessmen from all walks of life, as well as the participation of officials from various countries’ consulates, this place has become a popular place.

A vanity fair that people flock to.

"A gorgeous cage cannot feed a bird enough."

Rossius was very happy when he heard this. Regardless of the Luming Pavilion or Yingmi's strategy of getting closer to the shogunate, in the final analysis, everyone is inseparable and only interests are decisive. But for a mere island country,

What can we come up with to satisfy the appetites of these two powerful countries?

But when he turned around to look, he suddenly lost interest:

It turned out that the person standing next to him was the new minister of Lucia, Pirovsky.

This rude guy failed to provoke the aftermath of the Yarrow War that ended in 1860. Instead, he was suppressed by the British who supported the Qing Dynasty. Even the temples at the mouth of the Wulong River became a port opening jointly managed by various families, resulting in the Lu

West Asia lost this lifeline and completely lost the opportunity to expand in the Far East.

But now, I don’t know what happened. After a few years of silence, this guy who had little success but more than failure, suddenly transformed into the minister to Fuso.

To be honest, if it were other Lucians, Rosius might still be interested in hooking up:

In 1861, Alexander II, Emperor of the Lu people, announced the abolition of serfdom in all of Lu. After violent turmoil and the collapse of the Crimean War in 1856, Lusia began to rise from the ashes.

Over the years, Lucia has accumulated a lot of strength and launched a new round of expansion.

In 1863, Alexander II resolutely sent troops to suppress the Great ND uprising, and turned the land that was partitioned for the third time in 1795 into a province of Rusia.

In 1864, the Caucasus, which had been increasing its troops since 1856, finally eliminated all resistance and was completely incorporated into the territory of the Lu people.

In the same year, the Lu army began to attack the Kokand Kingdom and began its formal large-scale expansion in Central Asia.

Even in the North-South war between Mi and people that started in 1861, Lucia, unwilling to be left alone, also sent two fleets to visit Mi to express its support for the north, showing its attitude of returning to the center of the world.

Although Lu Ren's strength has recovered, even if we don't take into account the current unanimous position of England and Buddha, Rosius really can't get particularly close to Lu Ren:

In Mexica, the southern neighbor of the Mi people, Grand Duke Maximilian, who was born in Osmaga, became the emperor. Maximilian's successful accession to the throne was the result of France sending troops to support it.

The northern Mi people supported by Lucia were extremely dissatisfied with this and had protested many times.

Rosius thought to himself that if he was close to Lucia, even if Fuso was an extremely remote place and would not cause the dissatisfaction of Emperor Napoleon III, Pirovsky was a recognized shame in the negotiation world. Such a waste, even if the alliance was

What's the use of getting up?

But the coldness of the Buddhist minister was not noticed by Pirovsky, a typical Lucian, and he continued to chatter:

In the Prussian-Danish War (1864), which ended last year, Prussia and Osmaga joined forces to invade the principalities of Schleswig and Holstein.

In this regard, England acted slowly and therefore failed to prevent it. However, France was restricted by England and could only watch Prussia show off its power.

Therefore, France should make his own voice and not blindly follow others.

Hearing these words, Rosius almost laughed out loud:

After the Crimean War, your emperor Alexander II tried to restore the alliance of Prussia, Prussia, and Austria. You are here to evaluate the gains and losses of the Prussia-Danish War. Are you still preparing to deal with Prussia, your quasi-ally?

Thinking of this, he felt more and more that the other party was of low intelligence and disgusting appearance, so he apologized and walked towards the circle of Duke Yingfo with the wine glass in hand.

Upon discovering Rossius's arrival, the young Vanderbilt, who was chatting in a lively mood, immediately said hello:

"What do you think, your Excellency, if more Fuso people come to our country to participate in the construction of the Pacific Railway?"

Who doesn't know that the Vanderbilt family is a giant of the Pacific Railway. In order to compete with other parties, a large number of Chinese workers and Fuso workers were introduced to advance the progress.

If I say it’s no good, aren’t your family looking for someone else?

Suppressing his curse, Rosius gave sincere advice:

"Fuso people are weak, short, and embarrassed.

Great use. For such a big project, it’s better to use your own people.”

"What about the Suez Canal?"

Hearing this witty remark, the crowd surrounding these people burst into laughter.

In 1862, the northern government signed the Pacific Railway Act. In January 1863, the official construction of a transportation trunk line across the northern continent and connecting the coasts of the two oceans began.

As for the Suez Canal, it was built by the Buddha Company in April 1859 in an attempt to directly connect the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, shortening the distance from Eurobad Atlantic countries to Tianzhu by 5,500-8,009 kilometers, and shortening the distance from the Mediterranean to Tianzhu by 8,000-10,000 kilometers.

.

Although all countries in Europe are carrying out large-scale construction and railway construction at this time, only the Suez Canal and the Pacific Railway are the focus at this time - there is no way, the amount of the project is too large, and it is impossible not to pay attention.

But compared to the Pacific Railway, the construction of the Suez Canal was more criticized:

From the beginning in 1859, the Buddhist-dominated canal company has been criticized by the world for its low wages, poor food, almost no medical care and labor protection, and even forced the local Ali dynasty to recruit young men.

In 1863, a large number of local workers died of typhoid fever. And this year, 1865, cholera broke out again, and it is predicted that the death toll will even exceed that of 1863.

Regarding this tragic phenomenon, the French have always blamed it, saying that the French have tried their best to protect it. This is because the local people are embarrassed, do not abide by discipline and do not pay attention to hygiene.

Now some people are mentioning the Suez Canal project just to satirize the Buddhist minister.

Although little Vanderbilt was a playboy and not as business-savvy as his elder brother William, his negotiation skills were not weak, so he cut back what he wanted to say.

He originally wanted to say:

After the first batch of workers arrived in Fuso in 1864, they performed as extraordinary as the Chinese workers, endured hardships and stood hard work. With the help of brother-in-law Tiger's management company, they paid great attention to discipline and mutual assistance, and few deaths or injuries occurred.

Because the project is progressing very quickly, managers who have benefited from the benefits have suggested recruiting an additional 30,000 to 40,000 people from Fuso.

But if you say that, isn't it a naked slap in the face of the Buddhist minister?

Although as a member of the most wealthy family in Mi people, he originally didn't have to care much about what the Buddhists thought, but now that he has been stimulated by his brother William to enter the political arena, he has to be more cautious in doing things.

After all, although the South had announced its surrender on April 9 this year, in the battle between the North and the South, a total of 620,000 people were killed on both sides, and nearly a million people were injured and disabled. These were all the youth of the United States.

Strong.

Moreover, many places have been reduced to ruins. This is the time to lick the wounds. Therefore, it is better to show gentleness to the outside world for the time being.

So little Vanderbilt said haha:

"I heard that the reason why Fuso people work so hard is that they are prepared to rely on labor importation to balance their income and expenditure."

Hearing this sentence, everyone present laughed:

In 1863, the goods imported into Fuso by various companies amounted to more than 2 million pounds, and the exports during the same period also exceeded more than 1 million pounds.

Not to mention that two years later, Fuso completely gave up locking the port, so the difference should be even greater.

Can the gap be filled by relying solely on labor export?

But in the laughter, no one noticed that little Vanderbilt was thoughtful.

What he was thinking was:

Because the Pacific Railway passes through deserts and wilderness, and is harassed by Indians and bandits, the highest Fusang labor wage is 30 US dollars per month, equivalent to more than 6 pounds.

That one person costs more than 70 pounds a year. If we really recruit 30,000 people, wouldn't it cost more than 2 million pounds a year?

If you calculate it this way, Fuso's trade gap has not only been filled, but you may also make a profit!

But as cups and chips cluttered and skirts flew, he quickly forgot this thought.
Chapter completed!