Leaning on a wooden chair in the front hall of the embassy, the then 26-year-old Chen Peihu, the Chinese Minister to Paraguay, looked at the dripping rain in the yard, sipped a sip of tea, and murmured to himself.
Outside the embassy, on the street, the noise of the Paraguayan Guards hunting down criminals was obscured by the sound of rain. Figures holding grievances, crying in fear, could not be seen by Chen Peihu because of the obstruction of the courtyard wall.
But being inside the embassy, the calm and picturesque scene before her still couldn't stop Chen Peihu from paying attention to what was happening outside the walls.
Outside the courtyard wall, most of the people who were arrested were ordinary people. However, every time there was a group of more than a hundred people arrested, there were always a few who had visited the embassy in person and left an impression.
acquaintance.
For those arrested who were more or less connected with the legation, Chen Peihu sympathized with their plight. However, as King Lopez became more and more wary of the Chinese legation in Paraguay, he was not sure that he would
These poor people were rescued from the clutches of little Lopez.
After the second Argentine War ended in 1879, the relationship between Han and Uruguay entered a de facto stage of breakdown. Only because the two sides still had some value in using each other, little Lopez did not completely break up with the Han side.
Uruguay is located in the inland area of central La Plata, and the passage into and out of the Atlantic Ocean along the Uruguay River is in the hands of the Chinese. When the Paraguay War ended in 1868, the small amount of industrial base that Lopez's father had accumulated for Paraguay was also destroyed in Brazil.
Under the destruction of the two Argentine armies,
Faced with blocked access to the outside world and the complete loss of the local industrial base, even if Lopez saw through the hidden ambitions of the Han State, he could only maintain a superficial cooperative relationship and use the weapons and industrial products imported by the Han State to ease the situation.
The domestic material shortage situation in Paraguay.
Han and Paraguay each have their own scruples and are on guard against each other. As the leader responsible for the supply and trade of materials and commodities between the two parties, the Han embassy in Paraguay has naturally been closely monitored by the Paraguayan government.
In the eyes of little Lopez, the Han Dynasty took advantage of its trade exports to secretly weave a spider web that was detrimental to the Lopez family at all times, while the Chinese Embassy in Paraguay and Chen Peihu, the Minister to Paraguay, acted as the command center and
The role of the spider in the hub.
Little Lopez's suspicion of the Chinese Embassy in Paraguay and his doubts about domestic officials and military officers restricted the Han Legation's external contacts to a certain extent. However, on the other hand, Little Lopez's increasingly crazy behavior
It also intensified the speed of disintegration in Paraguay and created extremely favorable conditions for Chen Peihu to complete the tasks assigned by the Han central government.
One after another, officials who were originally close to the Lopez family, the officers secretly transferred the looted property to the legation for preservation. Group after group of Paraguayan businessmen who sensed the danger, through the relations of the legation, fled to Han or other regions.
Although on the surface the contact between the embassy and various parties in Paraguay is getting less and less, privately, there are more and more important Paraguayan officials who intend to establish relations with the embassy.
Sitting quietly on the chair, listening to the sound of rain in the yard,
Chen Peihu silently thought about the completion of various tasks recently.
First of all, in terms of contacting important people from all walks of life in Uruguay, there are more than 200 people in total including Lopez's lover Mrs. Lynch, Colonel Mariano Alonso of the Paraguayan Guards, and Baron Padre Fidel, a member of the House of Nobles.
Paraguayan dignitaries have successively expressed their attitude towards establishing good relations with Han through various channels.
Secondly, in terms of intelligence collection, the embassy obtained information on Paraguay’s domestic population, geography, customs and even the location and number of garrison troops by bribing Paraguayan garrison officers.
Third, in terms of public opinion propaganda, according to the information obtained by the embassy and the Han government, at the end of 1888, the total population in Paraguay was approximately 520,000, including 50,000 white Europeans and white descendants, 320,000 Indo-European mixed races, and 7 Indians.
Thousands, including 30,000 for mulattoes and 50,000 for blacks.
Among the population of each ethnic group, the three major groups: whites, Indo-Europeans, and Indians are the native population of Paraguay, while blacks and mulattoes are mainly the population of Paraguay's newly occupied areas.
According to the one-drop principle common in European countries, the Indo-European mixed race and Indians who make up the majority of Paraguay's population belong to the East Asian race (the name of the yellow race in the Han Dynasty).
The Han Chinese and the Indo-European mixed race have similar appearances. Taking advantage of this commonality among the common people of the two countries, as the leader of the second batch of young children studying in the United States, Chen Peihu took over the position of Minister of Paraguay and used the appearance of the common people of the two countries.
Similarly, the slogan that we should work together is vigorously promoted in Paraguay.
Public opinion propaganda is pragmatic and not pragmatic, but if Chen Peihu's propaganda is effective, then when the Han army appears in Paraguay as a savior, the resistance it encounters will be much lighter.
All plans are progressing smoothly. The only black issue that may be an obstacle in the future has been effectively stopped with the secret intervention of the embassy.
Thinking of the black issue, Chen Peihu found it difficult to understand the way of thinking of some native white people in South America. The Republic of Brazil abolished black slave status and gave them equal political power as white people. It also encouraged intermarriage between whites and blacks in controlled areas.
Almost all black people in South America are men. Intermarriage between blacks and whites is encouraged, which means that intermarriage between black men and white women is encouraged.
The number of white people in the Republic of South Brazil is originally lower than that of black people, and the number of women among the white people is also smaller than that of men. However, with the small number of white women marrying black men, even if the mixed-race children born have darker skin colors than those in Africa.
Black people may be lighter, but they are still black. If all white women in Brazil marry black men, let alone bleaching black people, I am afraid that all residents of the Republic of Brazil will become black.
For women of this race to marry black men, not to mention the old European powers, even the United States, which was the first country to grant black national status, would not dare to do this.
With Chen Peihu's way of thinking, it is impossible to understand why the decision-makers of the Republic of Brazil would make such a decision. If anyone in Han Dynasty dares to make similar suggestions, there is a high probability that they will be angry before the government issues an arrest warrant.
The militiamen were treated as national traitors and traitors and were eliminated.
Of course, if it weren't for some benevolent and broad-minded former white Brazilians in the Paraguayan-occupied state of Mato Grosso do Sul who advocated black-white marriage, Chen Peihu would have been too lazy to deal with those corrupt officials of the Brazilian Republic.
After all, it is the white people's freedom to like fraternity, but if they choose the object of fraternity on the land predetermined by the Han State, then the Han State will not be allowed to help them get rid of the disaster.
Several former Brazilian officials who clamored for black-white marriages were executed by angry Paraguayan soldiers, which was a concrete manifestation of Han's determination.
After pouring out the rest of the cup of tea and refilling it with a cup of strong tea, Chen Peihu opened a message sent by the military attache of the embassy and saw that little Lopez was preparing to assemble the Guards to rush to Mato Grosso do Sul to support the front line.
When receiving the information, a smile formed at the corner of his slightly closed mouth: "His Majesty Lopez is seriously ill and has gone thousands of miles away to encircle and suppress the Indian rebels. If the war drags on for a long time, I wonder if His Majesty the King's body can sustain it?