In December 1887, after absorbing the construction experience of the Pioneer class, the three shipyards, Royal Shipyard, Xingjing Shipyard, and Xinghe Shipyard, joined forces to prepare for the construction of two 2,500-ton cruisers.
In April 1888, based on the consideration of strengthening the offshore defense of overseas territories, the Navy Ministry made the decision to expand the 1,350-ton light cruiser and issued an order to build two Yongxing-class light cruisers to Xinjing Shipyard and Royal Shipyard each.
On November 11, 1888, three shipyards completed the construction of two 2,500-ton cruisers and four 1,350-ton light cruisers.
On December 17, four Yongxing-class light cruisers completed their final sea trials and were officially delivered to the Navy for service. Two of the light cruisers were assigned to serve in the Pacific Fleet, and the other two light cruisers were assigned to the Congolese colony and will serve as Congolese dispatch points. The main warship of the fleet is responsible for safeguarding Han's national interests in the outskirts of the west coast of Africa and the Congo River Basin.
After acquiring two main warships that can travel in the inland basin of the Congo River, the overall strength of the Congo dispatched squadron has been significantly improved.
Two 1,350-ton light cruisers, two 760-ton gunboats, five 200-ton gunboats, six 120-ton torpedo ships,
There are a total of fifteen small warships, plus various auxiliary ships, and the number of large and small warships exceeds thirty. The water strength of South America's Han Dynasty in the Congo offshore and the Congo River inland basin is second only to Britain and France even if it is placed on the entire west coast of Africa. two countries.
The squadron dispatched to Congo was very powerful, so Li Mingyuan did not send new ships to support it again. However, as the number of Chinese people settling in the Congolese colony increased year by year, it became a matter of local importance to increase the number of local Chinese armed forces and the proportion of government officials. What the government must start doing.
"The total number of Chinese in the Congolese colony is 186,000, and more than 40% of them are men of school age between 16 and 45 years old. The number of these people is about 80,000. From the 80,000, more than 10,000 are selected to form the Congolese Guard Army and For the militia unit, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Li Mingyuan turned his attention to Huang Naishang and said: "I have solved the problem of Congo's defense force for you. How do you plan to solve the problem of colonial government affairs?"
"I hope to dispatch another 160 government officials from the mainland to assist the Congolese Governor-General in handling colonial affairs."
"One hundred and sixty people is not a small number. I will first ask the Ministry of Personnel Assessment Department to release the news and see how many people voluntarily serve in Congo. If the number is insufficient, we will select and transfer them from newly recruited officials."
The climate in the Congolese colonies is hot and humid, and there are many mosquitoes. Although with the popularization of anti-tropical disease drugs such as cinchona and tiger balm, the mortality rate of immigrants in the Congolese colonies has dropped to less than 3%, but they have adapted to the suitable local living environment. Most of the new generation of young officials who were born in the local area choose to serve in the local area rather than go to the wild areas of Africa where disease is rampant.
For this situation, the central government has no good solution. It can only adopt a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, it encourages local young officials to contribute to the country and take the initiative to join the Congolese colony. On the other hand, it establishes various levels of education in the Congolese colony. The school is responsible for educating the Chinese children there.
The two measures complement each other and can be regarded as basically solving the problem of the lack of government personnel in the Congolese colony. However, in order to achieve the same government governance standards as those in the mainland, the Congolese colony still has many shortcomings in many aspects.
"Your Majesty, I have volunteered to serve in the Congo Colony and I hope your Majesty will approve it."
Less than ten seconds after Li Mingyuan finished speaking, a young voice came out from among the many officials.
Following the sound, Li Mingyuan saw He Ziyuan taking a step to the right and said with a smile: "Does Linshu understand the geographical environment, climate and other aspects of the Congolese colony?"
"Your Majesty, before attending the meeting, I consulted Governor Huang and Undersecretary Tang of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the situation of the Congo colony."
"Tell me, how much do you know about the colonial situation in the Congo."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
He Ziyuan stood upright outside the crowd and said: "The colonial area of Congo covers an area of more than 2.2 million square kilometers, and the number of indigenous residents is roughly estimated to be more than 5 million.
The local climate conditions are hot, rainy, mosquito-prone, and diseases are rampant. The mortality rate of early Chinese immigrants remained high. Now, with the popularization of local protection against tropical diseases and the local Chinese immigrants cutting down large forests and clearing weeds and other factors, the mortality rate of immigrants has been greatly reduced.
Moreover, with more than ten years of development and construction, there are more than 40 Chinese immigrant settlements under the colonial governor-general of the Congo. In addition to the living environment of local Chinese immigrants, which is slightly worse than that of the mainland, in terms of land ownership and living standards, it is comparable to
There is not much difference in the local area.”
He Ziyuan briefly recounted what he learned, and then continued: "I believe that the key to managing the Congo colony lies in the degree of control and management of the indigenous tribes by the Congo Governor-General.
The area of the Congolese colony is close to two-thirds of the mainland area, and the population exceeds 5 million. According to the vision of Governor Hutchison of the local government, it is necessary to make full use of local minerals, human resources and other resources to provide cheap and abundant resources for local industrialization.
For raw materials, just relying on the current 100,000 Chinese people and 20,000 to 30,000 ordinary people is far from enough."
"Does Linshu want to speed up the immigration process and increase the number of Chinese in the Congolese colony?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, I discovered on my way to the mainland of South America by boat from the Far East that there was a continuous line of immigrant transport ships from South America sailing to the Southeast Asia. In the southeastern and northern coastal areas, poor people who wanted to immigrate overseas were often lined up for miles.
team.
Due to its own conditions, the mainland screened immigrants from the Far East. Only those who met all the conditions could get the opportunity to immigrate to South America.
There are constant natural and man-made disasters in the Far East. The number of poor people who want to go to sea to survive every year is more than two million. However, the local official and private immigration quotas combined each year are only 500,000 to 600,000, and more than 60% of the poor people cannot get it.
When given the opportunity to move to South America, they could only choose to move to the Southeast Asian countries, or stay in the Far East and suffer from hunger.
In the Far East and South America, all Chinese are Chinese. Although South America cannot accept more Chinese immigrants for the time being, the land in the Congolese colony is fertile and suitable for growing crops. If the immigration transportation can be increased, some poor people stranded in the coastal areas of the Far East can be immigrated.
Going to the Congolese colony can not only strengthen the local government's control over the Congolese colony, but also give those poor people a way to survive. Isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"
Talking about what he saw during the boat trip, He Ziyuan couldn't help but get excited. His young face was full of anger, guilt and sympathy for the tragic situation.
"I was in a moment of excitement and there were many deficiencies in my words. I hope your majesty and your lords will forgive me."
Realizing that he was overly emotional again, He Ziyuan bowed his hands and apologized to Li Mingyuan and other officials.
"A child of China will inevitably be emotional when he sees the suffering of the people. Linshu need not worry too much."
He is in his prime, full of ideals and ambitions. Although he sometimes does not know how to be diplomatic and tolerant, he can feel at ease when using such a person. Li Mingyuan is also willing to leave some things to such a person.
"In the past ten years, the local government has implemented a policy of shrinking its power and focused on local industrialization. To deal with the plight of the people in the Far East, it can only do something within its power, but it cannot cover all compatriots."
"Your Majesty's love for the people is well known to the world. It was precisely because he heard about your Majesty's great achievements in South America! I suddenly realized that, with the help of Vice Minister Tang, I was lucky enough to come to South America and see your Majesty's beauty."
In front of Li Mingyuan, He Ziyuan was like a lost lamb who saw his spiritual idol, with excitement and reverence all over his face.
"His Majesty's achievements go far beyond the confines of South America. In Nanyang, Songkhla and Lanfang, the two countries have admitted a total of more than 3 million Chinese. The capital of Songkhla and the capital of Lanfang, Pontianak, were originally just a primitive and backward small place. Your Majesty
After dispatching local defense force instructors and government officials to the two places, in just over ten years, the number of Chinese residents in Songkhla and Pontianak both exceeded 200,000.
With sophisticated weapons and equipment, the spirit of the local Chinese people has taken on a new look. Although they are surrounded by great powers, England and the Netherlands do not dare to raise their troops to offend. The two countries are in such a situation because of His Majesty's gift!
Although I have humble talents, as a Chinese man who still has a lot of passion, I am willing to be a pawn in front of His Majesty and fulfill my due obligations for the eternal foundation of the Han Empire!"
"Hahaha! What Linshu said today is in line with my wishes! In the prime of life, we are not afraid of hardships and dangers, overcoming obstacles, and working hard for the rise of the country!"
Li Mingyuan was in a good mood, clapped his right hand hard on the chair, and said happily: "All aspects of infrastructure construction work in the Congolese colony have been initially completed, and it is time to increase the import of immigrants!
Linshu, I temporarily appoint you as the Civil Affairs Officer of the Congolese Colony, who will be fully responsible for the transportation, resettlement, and management of indigenous tribal affairs in the Congolese Colonies!
Work hard and don’t waste your energy!”
"Thank you for your grace! I will do my best to cooperate with Governor Huang to build the Congolese colony into the strongest overseas base in the country!"......
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