lovenovelstory Chapter 64 Risks and Opportunities
Chapter 64 Risks and Opportunities
Chapter 64 Risks and Opportunities
The fleets of the British, French, and American missions, under the command of the pilots in the port of Singapore, successively docked at the pier or anchored at the anchorage.
British Foreign Secretary Palmerston, Prince Charles, Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) and Foreign Secretary Broy, and US Secretary of State John Forsyth all disembarked.
The delegations from all three countries were of a very high caliber, especially the Franco delegation, which included a prince and a prime minister. However, the Franco king wielded far more power than the British king, as he could directly handle government affairs, while the prime minister could travel abroad in his capacity as foreign minister.
When George Burnham, the acting governor of the Channel Colony, received the advance notice, he was both helpless and relieved, and together with senior civil and military officials of the colony, he went to the dock to greet these important figures.
Burnham, as the local host, led them to his governor's mansion to rest, chat, and exchange information.
Shortly after the two met, Palmerzon noticed that Burnham was noticeably dejected.
After being seated in the Governor's residence and served tea, Palmerston first announced some good news with a smile: "Your Excellency Burnham, I have brought His Majesty's official letter of appointment. You are now the official Governor of the Straits Settlements."
Upon hearing the "good news" that he had finally been given a permanent position, Burnham became even more dejected: "Oh my God, I wish you had brought me the dismissal order. I should have written my resignation beforehand—"
Palmerzon knew why Burnham wanted to resign.
It's estimated that no one wants to face the Great Han Empire, which has extended its tentacles into Southeast Asia: "Even if Your Excellency wants to resign, you will have to wait for the new governor appointed by the Prime Minister to take office."
"So, is there any bad news?"
Burnham glanced at the foreigners beside him, especially several Franco representatives.
Palmerston thought for a moment and said, "In Europe, we may have conflicts, but in the East, we are all Europeans."
Burnham sighed: "Well, first of all, in the winter of 1834, the Great Han attacked the Spanish colony of the Philippines on the grounds that the Spanish were harboring opium smugglers."
"They captured Manila, killed all the adult European men in the city who refused to surrender, and then quickly occupied the whole of the Philippines."
Burnham was unsure whether Palmerston had received his report, so he specifically brought up the matter of the Philippines.
When Palmerston learned of this, he said with great emotion, "This is truly tragic. We should have done something in advance, but unfortunately it's too late now."
Representatives from the United States and France also shook their heads and sighed.
A young man standing behind the US Secretary of State, Forbes, the manager of Russell & Co., exclaimed: "An attack under the pretext of harboring opium smugglers? Killing all the adult men?"
"What's become of those so-called opium smugglers?"
A British merchant representative, a former partner of Jardine, Matthias, also stepped forward and asked, "Do you have any information on how the Emperor of the Great Han will deal with them?"
Burnham glanced at Forbes and Mattison: "You two look so nervous, do you have any companions with you?"
"If the Han Chinese also consider him an opium smuggler, then he is relatively lucky."
"They were probably not executed directly, but were captured and taken back to the Han Dynasty's homeland to be tried."
"It is said that the Han emperor did not execute them, but used them for drug experiments."
"So they are very likely still alive."
A chorus of gasps erupted from the surrounding crowd: "Oh my God!"
May God bless them.
"This is truly tragic—"
"The will of the Han emperor is truly as hard as a gemstone—"
What surprised everyone was the fate of these people, and the extent of the Han emperor's aversion to smuggling, as well as his severity and determination in arresting and punishing smugglers.
But there's nothing wrong with directly killing them or using them for experiments.
Those things are considered "normal" in this era and are not something that should surprise them.
Forbes looked at Secretary of State Forsyth: "We should head to the Great Han as soon as possible; perhaps we still have a chance to save Mr. Russell—"
Forsyth immediately replied, "No problem. We weren't planning on staying here anyway; we'd leave once we finished resupplying."
Mattison also made a similar request to Palmerston.
Palmerston knew about the relationship between Martin Luther King Jr. and Jardine Matheson, and that Jardine Matheson had gone mad two years ago.
Even if they are still alive now, they have most likely lost their human form.
They should be able to perform in the circus.
But Palmerston did not explain these circumstances. Instead, he sighed and reassured them, "Don't rush. Before we officially head to the Great Han, we need to understand as many details as possible."
Palmerston then turned to Burnham again: "You just said 'firstly,' so is there any bad news to come?"
Governor Burnham of the Straits Settlements continued, "Last summer, the Great Han Navy sailed south again, announcing its intention to occupy the entire Borneo."
"So the Dutch on the island gave way and fled back to Batavia."
"Subsequently, the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty dispatched three hundred warships southward, forcing Brunei and Sulu to submit completely."
"These two countries were originally vassals of the Han Empire, but now they have become vassals who are directly loyal to the Han Emperor."
"The governors sent by the Han emperor to Borneo have the right to request the monarchs of both countries to cooperate by sending laborers or slaves to serve them."
"The lands of both countries are open to Han people to explore and use at will, and are no longer under the jurisdiction of the monarchs of the two countries, but under the jurisdiction of the governor-general of the Han emperor."
"All Han Chinese immigrants in Borneo accepted the rule of the Han emperor and established a full-scale militia organization."
"They are currently destroying all the princely states on the island."
"If no other country had used its power to oppose it, Borneo would already be direct territory of the Han Dynasty."
The other high-ranking officials and representatives around were quite astonished.
"In other words, the Han emperor once again expanded his territory and formally came to rule Borneo —"
"The Dutch were too cowardly and weak; they ran away without doing anything."
"What else can we do but flee? Fight against the tens of millions of Han militia near Han's homeland?"
"The difference in strength was too great, so when the Han claimed to have occupied Borneo, the Dutch voluntarily withdrew, and the two sides did not directly engage in battle."
After listening, Palmerston simply shook his head and sighed: "As expected, this has indeed happened. The Great Han is increasing its power in their East Indies."
"If the Dutch are unwilling to fight, then they can only slowly withdraw from the East."
Burnham countered with Palmerston, "The Netherlands clearly doesn't want to fight, so do the Britons want to fight?"
Palmerston did not answer directly, but explained indirectly: "Your Excellency need not worry too much, the Great Han currently has no hostility towards Britain."
Their target was the Dutch-controlled East Indies.
"The Netherlands has long since declined, and our need for the East is only for trade routes, not for land."
"Therefore, we allow the Netherlands to continue occupying most of the East Indies."
"However, the Han Dynasty needed vast overseas lands, so the Han Dynasty had a conflict with the Netherlands."
"However, the Han Dynasty can also benefit from our trade routes, so the Han Dynasty and Britain can coexist."
Burnham listened without commenting: "What you say makes sense, but Borneo is clearly not the last target."
"The key is that the authority of the Han emperor is supreme, and he may not calmly consider the actual interests when launching a war."
"He might attack the Straits Settlements in order to gain ownership and suzerainty over the territory."
Palmer was speechless after Burnham's actions. These things were all true, but the probability was extremely low.
Moreover, there's no benefit in speaking out; it only increases other people's worries.
Palmer was somewhat annoyed and didn't want to engage in this conversation.
But Burnham himself seemed to realize his mistake immediately after speaking: "Your Excellency need not heed my complaints. I know these worries are useless, and I will fulfill my duties."
"But you should also understand that if the Han really attacks Singapore, it will be difficult for Singapore to resist with its strength."
"If Britain is defeated in Singapore, it only proves the strength of the Han Dynasty, not our incompetence."
Palmerston finally understood what Burnham was complaining about; he was trying to shirk responsibility: "I can understand. Faced with a Leviathan like the Great Khan, no one has many options."
Burnham seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief and thanked Palmerston very sincerely: "Thank you for understanding my difficulties."
After confirming each other's positions, Palmerston and Burnham continued to have more in-depth discussions on the details.
The main purpose was for Palmerston to inquire about Burnham and any potentially useful information from the Great Han and Southeast Asia.
The meeting lasted for more than two hours. Palmerston felt that there was nothing more he needed to know, so he went to the room prepared by Burnham to rest.
The trilateral missions made a temporary stop in Singapore while waiting for ships to replenish the necessities for their voyage.
News of the Han Dynasty's occupation of the Luzon Islands and Borneo, and the arrest of smugglers from Jardine, Russell, and Dindi, quickly spread throughout the mission.
Representatives associated with the arrested smugglers were all extremely shocked and anxious at this moment.
After the meeting, Mattison immediately went to see Forbes.
Their partners and bosses, Jardine and Russell, were arrested by the big man.
The key point is that they might not be dead yet.
Given their shared circumstances and interests, the two naturally began to cooperate.
The two first went their separate ways to contact other people, looking for members of the delegation who were connected with smugglers, and to bring all those of the same kind together to make a simple agreement.
Regardless of their current nationality and status, they should act in unison, cooperate, and stand together in rescuing their comrades who have been arrested for smuggling. After gathering together, they should visit the heads of the three kingdoms' delegations one by one, asking them to raise the issue of releasing the smugglers when they meet with the Emperor of Han, and do their best to persuade the Emperor of Han to release them.
We also hope that the fleet can set sail as soon as possible and not linger in Singapore for too long.
The heads of the three missions—British Foreign Secretary Palmerston, Prince Charles of France, Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Broy, and US Secretary of State Forsyth—could not refuse and could only agree to make the request to the Emperor.
As for most of the ordinary members of the delegation, they didn't really care about this matter.
In this era, a monarch's occupation of a wild land was nothing more than a declaration and expansion of colonies.
Unless there is a strong conflict of interest, no country will usually specifically oppose it.
Not to mention ordinary people like them.
On the contrary, many people feel that there may be some new opportunities in this.
For example, Colt believed that although the Han Dynasty had a large army, it would not consume much weaponry if it did not fight.
Only through continuous expansion can there be continuous battles and a continuous stream of orders.
As for the arrest of a group of European and American smugglers who are usually active in the East, what does that have to do with these engineers who are active in Europe and America?
Instead, some people complained in their hearts that these smugglers had ruined their relationship with the big man.
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