The sun never sets in America

Chapter 59 Journey to the Far East 4
The Sandwich Islands (later the Hawaiian Islands), an archipelago discovered by the British at the end of the 18th century, are mainly composed of several large islands, the largest of which is the Big Island of Hawaii where the Kingdom of Hawaii is located, and is also the largest island in the entire Sandwich Islands.

In addition, there are Maui and Oahu. The area of ​​these two islands is more than 1 square kilometers. Among the entire sandwich islands, they are relatively large islands, second only to Hawaii, which has more than [-] square kilometers. Big island.

The largest island of Hawaii in the Sandwich Islands is mainly ruled by an indigenous nation called the Kingdom of Hawaii. The current king is a man named Kamehameha III.

The architecture on the entire island of Hawaii is mainly similar to the architecture of the indigenous island countries in the South Pacific, but many European elements have been added to it. Even the palace was designed by European designers. Although due to the material and workers, , and even regarding construction experience, there seem to be some problems, but generally speaking, it is still in line with the current mainstream aesthetics in Europe.

On this island, there are still some white people who stayed back then, as well as those who stayed from passing merchant ships over the years. These people stayed for various reasons because of the scenery of the Big Island of Hawaii and the recruitment of the Kingdom of Hawaii. , most of them have intermarried with the indigenous women on the island, but a few who are resolute are still waiting for the next European merchant ship to visit to take them away...

Of course, if they can't wait, they can also consider building their own ship, but in such primitive conditions as the island, building a ship large enough to cross the Pacific requires at least the cooperation of the entire island, which is simply impossible. .

Not to mention anything else, even those white people who intermarry and decide to stay on the island are not willing to stay here by themselves, and then watch others leave this large island with beautiful scenery but low civilization and go to their dreams. Europe appears from time to time in...

I'm sorry, they don't have such dedication. What's more, for them who are used to life on the island, it is easy to go back, but it is difficult to survive in Europe. After all, they have been out of touch with Europe for many years... They just For people who want to be forgotten in a corner of the world, mainstream civilized society will not care at all about their life and death.

After all, the mainstream value in Europe now is colonialism, and the core of colonialism is the law of the jungle. The weak do not deserve sympathy! !
This is also the best excuse for Western countries to colonize the world.

On the Hawaiian Island, after the British discovered it, they came and went in a hurry. The passing merchant ships also stopped for a while, and then left without looking back. Moreover, as the Atlantic and Indian Ocean trade intensified, it was booming. The fire has caused the number of merchant ships in the Pacific to be far smaller than those in the famous mainstream sea areas in the world. Even some caravans going to the Far East for trade will first choose to start from Canada and Alaska, along the continental shelf, Beringia The strait flows downstream, directly through Japan, to the Far East... which is the current center of trade, China! !
Even the immigration fleet organized by Liujiabao this time initially followed the most familiar route in the world. After all, this is the safest route. The British warships patrolling along the way will become the greatest protection for those merchant ships.

After all, there is nothing more important to the British Empire than maintaining free trade.

April 1840, 4, a date that can record the development history of Liujiabao.

On the Big Island of Hawaii, there are green virgin forests everywhere, and among the forests, there are some uneven-looking, but quite large, rice fields. The sun-tanned native Hawaiians are wearing linen shorts and are naked. The upper body, stepping on the paddy field, inserts the green rice seedlings into the rice field. Due to the climate in Hawaii, rice is basically triple-ripened...

In addition, Hawaii is located in the Pacific Ocean, so it tends to be ecologically closed. This has resulted in the level of local civilization in Hawaii, even though it has come into contact with the British and passing merchant ships, it still retains a lot of original traditions...

In all primitive civilizations, worshiping gods is a top priority, and it is even the spiritual symbol of entire tribes and even indigenous countries.

Today is the day to worship the god Sera. Sera in the original Hawaiian language means harvest, well-being, and peace...

Today happens to be the day for planting rice again, so today's ritual activities are particularly lively. The entire Hawaii City, and even the palace in the center of the city, are filled with celebratory songs and dances...

People sang and danced to celebrate this grand festival.

Even the white people who stayed in Hawaii were inspired by the cheerful atmosphere, and followed the indigenous people and started dancing happily.

Also today, on this day of worshiping the god Sera and cultivating rice, an unknown encounter is about to change the history of the entire Hawaii and even the Pacific.

Off the coast of Hawaii, the fleet that had just passed Oahu and was sailing towards the Big Island of Hawaii was still arranged in an orderly line, sailing in an orderly manner on the vast and boundless sea.

Over the sea off Hawaii, the weather is calm, and the red sun hangs at the highest point. The sun is reflected on the sea, like a big golden ball, as if it can be fished out of the sea with just one hand.

"Master Hu, we are almost arriving at the Big Island of Hawaii." Wan Fang stood on the bow of the ship and said to Hu Junding excitedly, "Should we salute first and then send troops, or should we first send soldiers and then salute?" Wan Fang asked Hu Junding with great interest. At this moment , Wan Fang seems to have endless strength, as if his childhood dream will soon come true.

The whole person was in a state of excitement. In fact, since early this morning, Wan Fang had stood on the bow of the boat many times and looked at the small islands in the Sandwich Islands and the reefs that had just emerged and were submerged by the sea. When we arrived at Hu Island, Wan Fang became excited.

From time to time, I hold a telescope and observe everything on the island, whether it is vegetation or the thatched houses inhabited by the indigenous people. I even jumped up excitedly after seeing that rice can be grown on the island. Being able to grow rice means that this island can Living people... And judging from the subsequent detour, this island is quite large, larger than many islands they have seen in the Pacific.

Moreover, in subsequent observations, Losis, a white Mexican oceanographer who accompanied him, also said that there is a natural haven in this island called Oahu. Once developed, it may become a harbor only second to Los Angeles. Although it was a bit exaggerated, it still made Wan Fang and Hu Junding smile from ear to ear with joy...

Originally they thought that in the entire Sandwich Islands, only the Big Island of Hawaii was the most valuable, but now it seems that they don't need to occupy Hawaii at all, they just need to force the natives to hand over one of the islands for them to use Liujiapu as a transshipment base for immigrants... …

This is also the main reason why Wan Fang said what he said to Hu Junding just now.

"In my opinion, there is no difference between courtesy first and then soldiers and first soldiers and then courtesy." After hearing this, Hu Junding smiled and replied to Wan Fang, "Because the final result is the same." Hu Junding continued to reply to Wan Fang with a smile.

"But for the sake of Liujiabao's future reputation, it's better to be polite first and then attack with force." Hu Junding thought for a while and finally decided to use the safest and most civilized method. "But what is etiquette? Let's forget it..." Hu Junding sneered at Wan Fang. In his opinion, no matter what method, the ultimate goal is to obtain stable immigration logistics supplies and repair bases in the Sandwich Islands, whether it is forcible occupation or Legal possession, in the final analysis, is possession, the difference is just which one sounds better...

"Master Hu is wise..." After hearing this, Wan Fang clasped his fists and praised Hu Junding.

"Hahaha……"

Then Hu Junding and Wan Fang looked at each other and burst into laughter.

.............................................

The Kingdom of Hawaii is a kingdom that has not been established for a long time. As of today, it has only experienced three kings, and their reigns are not too long.

The establishment of the entire kingdom was basically around the same time that the British came to the island. The arrival of the British not only brought Western civilization to the closed islanders on the island, but also brought about earth-shaking changes to the entire island.

Western-style buildings began to replace the thatched houses and stilt houses commonly used in Pacific island countries. Some of them passed through local maritime merchants, which brought some modern industrial products to the local area and broadened the horizons of the local people, while retaining the local white crew. , and became a teacher locally, bringing new vitality to the ignorant local civilization.Therefore, the Kingdom of Hawaii is also different from the indigenous civilizations in the Pacific that only know how to make a living by fishing, and still rely on stone carvings and knotting ropes to record events. Not only does it have a palace guard composed of all firearms, but there are also some armed with cold weapons. Although the regular army is small in number, it is more than enough to maintain rule on the island.

Even the British colonists who passed through gave up colonizing Hawaii because the place was far away from the current world's major commercial routes and did not conform to the current British colonial strategy. Therefore, unlike other colonized indigenous kingdoms in the world, the Kingdom of Hawaii not only did not After being colonized, it developed rapidly with the arrival of Westerners. Compared with the original time, it has progressed by more than one step...

This is also the reason why the local indigenous people are relatively peaceful. The limitations of the times have caused this place to be missed or abandoned by the colonists.

Instead, we have gained the precious peace that indigenous people in many parts of the world yearn for.

But today, the calm that has been maintained for decades is about to be broken.

When the first ship approached the coast of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the native Hawaiians on the beach just regarded it as another lost merchant ship. But when one after another, one after another, a total of twelve merchant ships came to the coast of Hawaii, the entire Hawaii The kingdom was in commotion.

In the palace, Kamehameha III, the king of the Kingdom of Hawaii, was urgently summoning the ministers in the kingdom who could speak, as well as the so-called generals, and of course, a British adviser named Vasily...

This Vasily came to Hawaii on a French merchant ship more than ten years ago. Like Liujiapu this time, he accidentally came to Hawaii due to weather conditions on the main route. On this island, Vasily was deeply attracted by the beautiful scenery on the island and the relatively simple native Hawaiians. More importantly, he fell in love with a native Hawaiian woman named Sang Li.

For Sangli, Vasily stayed without hesitation and stayed there for 13 years.

During the past 13 years, because Vasily had gone to university and learned about water conservancy, he was appointed by the king as the minister in charge of agriculture and water conservancy. Even because he was a Westerner, had gone to university and understood the current world, he was also appointed as the minister in charge of agriculture and water conservancy. He was made a minister of the palace by King Kamehameha III. In fact, he was the king's personal staff...Kamehameha III, who was studious by nature, often asked Vasily for advice on Western knowledge, especially Western architecture. The current palace , in fact, it has been renovated once in the hands of Kamehameha III. It looks more like a European palace and has nothing to do with the culture of the Pacific island countries...

"Everyone, a group of uninvited guests who don't know whether they are friends or foes are here." Kamehameha III briefly introduced the current situation. "Ministers, what solutions do you have?" Kamehameha III said. The third generation looked at everyone in the palace hall nervously and expectantly, eager for someone to come up with a solution to the current predicament.

But what has been exchanged is indeed silence. The usual heroic words have disappeared, and now there is only a clumsy attitude in the face of difficulties...

"Your Majesty the King, I think we should contact the other party first." When everyone was pretending to be dead, Vasily stood up and replied to Kamehameha III, who was on the verge of despair. "According to European practice, when encountering such a In this situation, to realize the purpose of contacting the other party and finding out the purpose of the other party, as well as the conditions behind the purpose..." Vasily looked at the expectant king and said slowly. In his opinion, these uninvited guests do not look good. Like the navy of a certain country, because these ships are mainly merchant ships with artillery and defense capabilities. Since they are merchant ships, it means that the opponent does not have that many infantry who can land and fight. This is very important, even if the opponent captures Once they reach the port, or even along the coast, as long as they don't have enough infantry, they will have no way to gain a foothold there. This is also the knowledge that Vasily learned from a British captain.

Of course, at this time, the other party will basically intimidate the local indigenous kingdoms, mostly asking for property. As long as the other party's requirements are met, or even bargaining, the other party will be able to accept it. After all, merchant ships like this are mainly engaged in trade. The current situation that has happened so aggressively to the Big Island of Hawaii may be because they saw an indigenous kingdom and some European buildings there, decided that it was a rich place, and planned to make a fortune from it... This kind of thing happened throughout the great voyage. Times are very common.

Maritime merchants in the Age of Discovery were merchants when there was peace, but once they felt that the local country was weak and could even be bullied, they became pirates. Businessmen and pirates only took one thought! !

"Can we contact you?" After hearing this, King Kamehameha III asked Vasily with a worried look, "Will they coexist peacefully with us like the original businessmen?" King Kamehameha III , asked Vasily in fear and expectation. In his opinion, as long as he is like the Western merchants who passed through the area and just started trade with them, these are not disasters, but opportunities for their Hawaiian Kingdom. After all, these Although Western merchant ships had some bad intentions, in the end the civilization they brought to them, even Vasily in front of him, was not the result of the arrival of merchant ships? ?
"Your Majesty the King, not all businessmen are as friendly as before..." After hearing this, Vasily smiled bitterly and replied to King Kamehameha who still had illusions about outsiders. In fact, he had a saying It is not said that those Western merchant ships who are willing to coexist peacefully with the Kingdom of Hawaii are not because of their conscience, but because they have too few people and are not sure to control such a large island. Once a war is launched, it is easy for them to overturn their horses...

Even the captain Malincy of the French merchant ship called the Sego that he sailed on more than ten years ago once said to him that if it weren't for them, there would be only one ship with only two cannons and not many people. As long as there were five With more than one merchant ship, he was able to rob this small Pacific country. After all, there are not many small indigenous countries like this in the Pacific Ocean.

"Your Majesty the King, I think it is better to contact the other party first, what if the other party is kind?" At this point, Vasily could only reply to King Kamehameha III in comforting words. Of course, even He himself didn't think that the other party's visit to a small Pacific country with such a large-scale campaign was for the sake of human friendship.

Maybe they are the type of Captain Malinsi who has the strength.

Seeing the wealth of the Kingdom of Hawaii, he had evil thoughts and prepared to make a big fortune.

"Yes, yes... contact first, contact first!!" King Kamehameha III was frightened by Vasily's remarks just now and was a little incoherent, and then he immediately agreed to Vasily's suggestion.

As for the indigenous ministers who couldn't say a word, they had no reason to object.

tread... tread...

In the palace, while discussing how to contact the other party, a man wearing native armor ran in in a panic.

"Your Majesty the King, the other party, the other party has sent someone..."

The armored native man shouted in a panic. As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the palace showed a trace of nervousness on their faces.

It's like something unexpected has really happened.

"Quick, get up and greet..." Vasily reacted first and shouted to the king.

"Yes, yes, welcome, welcome..." King Kamehameha III immediately ordered after he came to his senses.

"Your Majesty, call the palace guards." Vasily reminded the king one last time before leaving.

"Kakala... let the troops dress up." King Kamehameha III immediately understood Vasili's intention, which was to show force in front of those who were uninvited and show that the Hawaiian Kingdom was not so easy to bully, so before leaving Before, he shouted to the guard captain Kakala, "Kakala, remember, take those artillery with you..." Before leaving, King Kamehameha, in order to make their kingdom's army look more majestic, put The only few artillery pieces bought from British businessmen more than ten years ago were also included in the welcoming team, so that outsiders would not underestimate them and launch a war against them rashly...

From this point of view, Kamehameha III is still a good king.

"Yes, His Majesty the King..." After hearing this, Captain Kakala first agreed to King Kamehameha III, and then immediately issued combat preparation tasks to the guards in the palace and the gunners who had not been trained much all year round. .

It is said to be welcoming, but it is actually preparing for war, and the purpose of preparing for war is to give the Kingdom of Hawaii a strong momentum in front of outsiders and those uninvited guests...

(End of this chapter)