CHAPTER 559: CHAPTER 137 PERMISSION

Beiping.

"Mr. Li, as you know, our economic interests in East Africa are growing increasingly significant in the Far East, especially with German merchants constructing a large number of factories and facilities there. Meanwhile, the trade volume demands between East Africa and the Far Eastern Empire are also getting higher, so we hope to establish a transit station in your country’s vassal state the Ryukyu Islands to ensure the safety of East African ships passing through and to facilitate trade between our two countries." The East African ambassador approached Li Hongzhang and stated directly.

At this time, Li Hongzhang was indeed troubled by the issue of the Southern Ryukyu Islands, or rather the entire Ryukyu Islands, especially with Japan’s undisguised ambitions toward the Kingdom of Ryukyu.

Li Hongzhang sighed and said, "Ambassador Richard, it’s not that I don’t want to help you solve this problem. The current situation in the Kingdom of Ryukyu is quite complex, especially with Japan’s blatant disregard for international norms, directly invading the Kingdom of Ryukyu and illegally manipulating Ryukyu’s politics. Frankly speaking, we can no longer control the government of the Kingdom of Ryukyu."

"I heard that Japan only occupies the central and northern parts of Ryukyu, and they haven’t controlled the southern regions, so we don’t care about the attitudes of Japan and Ryukyu. As long as your country agrees, we can proceed."

Li Hongzhang eyed Richard with suspicion, wondering why East Africa was so eager to plunge into this fraught situation with Ryukyu.

"Your country indeed has the demeanor of a great nation, but I still advise your country to think twice. Japan has always been an untrustworthy nation with narrow-mindedness. If your country establishes an economic zone in the Southern Ryukyu Islands, they might really cause you trouble."

Richard said nonchalantly, "Mr. Li, as the leader of the naval forces, you must be aware of the strength of our East African navy. In the face of absolute power, Japan is nothing but a clown. If they dare to offend Germany, then the navies of the Three Kingdoms would dare to conduct a patrol in Edo."

East Africa in the Far East has never fought alone. The commercial interests of Germany and Austria in the Far East are greatly protected by East Africa.

This is not an exaggeration. The naval influence of Germany and Austria on the Far Eastern Empire is very weak, as crucial maritime routes like Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, as well as the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean, are firmly controlled by the British Royal Navy.

But East Africa is different. The only thing that could sever the connection between East Africa and the Far East is the Strait of Malacca, controlled by Britain, but the Mand Strait and Cape Town are also constrained by East Africa.

Both sides have leverage against each other, so the British cannot act excessively against East Africa. If East Africa and Britain were to reach a stalemate, India would be in an extremely perilous position.

India is Britain’s Achilles’ heel. Even if East Africa managed to temporarily cut off the connection between India and the British mainland, it could trigger a significant change in the world order.

After all, Britain doesn’t have just one enemy in East Africa. If East Africa were to act in such a manner, other countries are likely to follow suit, and even if the probability is low, it is something Britain cannot accept. With regards to India, Britain must ensure nothing goes wrong.

Upon hearing that East Africa was again bringing in Germany and Austria as protective shades, Li Hongzhang felt a complex mix of feelings, remembering the historical context of being deceived by East Africa.

Back when East Africa was an insignificant colony, it managed to bluff significant privileges from the Far Eastern Empire by leveraging the mantle of Germany.

It wasn’t until the Far Eastern Empire understood East Africa more deeply that they realized they had been deceived. East Africa wasn’t truly representing Germany back then, and the so-called Heixinggen principality had no real standing in Germany. The Hohenzollern surname had a deceptive effect, causing Emperor Tongzhi to mistakenly believe the Heixinggen royal family had a status akin to the Far Eastern princes and could represent the Prussian government.

Over the years, the Far Eastern Empire discovered that due to their lack of understanding of Western culture and politics, they had been toyed with by East Africa.

However, with East Africa’s development in recent years, especially its defeat of Portugal, which elevated its naval power to the world’s top ten, the Far Eastern Empire had no choice but to accept the reality.

Of course, East Africa, while somewhat unscrupulous, maintained a decent relationship with the Far Eastern Empire. Unlike Britain and other nations, it was the other colonial states that truly overstepped boundaries with the Far Eastern Empire.

In fact, East Africa merely exploited the Far Eastern Empire’s lack of understanding of the West, so this blame could only fall on its own diplomats. The Far Eastern Empire’s modern diplomatic efforts started very late, with the first students going abroad in the 1870s. And East Africa’s deceit only further stimulated the Far Eastern Empire to explore and understand the Western world.

If another Western nation should achieve the same effect in the future, it would be utterly humiliating. But with the experience of being deceived by East Africa, the Far Eastern Empire gained awareness of small countries like Greece, Portugal, Belgium, and Italy...

Poor Portugal was directly demoted to the ranks of small countries due to the East-Portuguese War. Portuguese merchants in the Far Eastern Empire couldn’t get away with deceit anymore.

"Ambassador Richard, we can allow your country to develop the Southern Ryukyu Islands, but the troubles from Japan will have to be shouldered by your country."

Li Hongzhang was really out of options. His own navy hadn’t matured yet. Moreover, the navy was his lifeline, and he couldn’t afford its loss. It was better to let East Africa and Japan sort it out themselves.

"Hahaha, no problem, as long as your country agrees, the rest will be taken care of by us in East Africa. We will never put your country in a difficult position."

East Africa moved swiftly. Although it would take some time for their ironclad ships to arrive, East Africa had many merchant ships in the Far East. After receiving permission from the Far Eastern Empire, they brazenly transported troops and supplies to the Southern Ryukyu Islands.

The deployment of troops is easily justified. One must have security personnel to operate in the Far Eastern Empire. Local powers and bureaucrats aren’t easy to deal with either. Ernst knew them well; collaboration had to be assertive, or nothing would be left.

East Africa’s justification was at least not problematic: protecting East African commercial interests in the Far East by finding an island in the Pacific as an economic development zone.

In other words, it was akin to a colonial concession. After all, the Kingdom of Ryukyu was merely a vassal state of the Far Eastern Empire, and it hadn’t been overly emphasized by the latter.

The primary reason was that East Africa had no prior record. Although it established two economic zones in the Far East, those were mainly to facilitate East African business dealings, investments, and to avoid competition with other countries. East Africa had some privileges in these zones, but other major rights remained with the Far Eastern Empire, and any economic matters required consultation with East Africa.

This time, the Far Eastern Empire assumed East Africa’s approach to the Southern Ryukyu Islands would mirror that of the two economic zones and hoped it would make Japan cautious.

However, neither the Far Eastern Empire nor Japan could foresee that East Africa was targeting the sovereignty of the Southern Ryukyu Islands and aimed to establish them as a subordinate force of East Africa.

The East African government directly instructed merchant ships from the Zhuhai Trade Region to head to the Southern Ryukyu Islands to begin constructing military bases, with East African army and navy ready to move in.

By the time Japan reacted, the East African ironclad fleet would have already arrived. During this era, Japan still had to behave humbly before Westerners.

In reality, the Southern Ryukyu Islands aren’t particularly close to Japan, otherwise, given Japan’s nature, they wouldn’t have been entangled with the Far Eastern Empire. Although East Africa is far from the Southern Ryukyu Islands, with assistance from the Far Eastern Empire and the Lan Fang Overseas Province, controlling the Southern Ryukyu Islands wasn’t too difficult.