The Straits Settlements are the British administrative system for three important ports on the Malay Peninsula and various colonies in the Malay Archipelago.
It currently consists of three British ports: Singapore, Penang and Malacca (Malacca), so it was called Sanzhoufu by the local Chinese at that time.
The Straits Settlements are still technically under the jurisdiction of the East India Company.
However, most of the East India Company's control over the colonies had been taken back by the British government.
The most obvious thing is that Governor Brandel is taking orders from the British government.
Only some management positions in the colonies were held by East India Company employees.
For example, the previous series of attacks on Chinese plantations in the Malay Peninsula were planned by these grassroots employees of the East India Company.
Although these people did not hold military power, they had a strong influence on the colonial states on the Malay Peninsula.
The British management style in the Straits Settlements is also somewhat similar to that in India.
That is to control major cities and strategic locations, and then support local dependent states.
These princely states were loyal to the British but enjoyed great autonomy.
In this way, the British did not need to bear a heavy burden, and at the same time they could dump goods to these dependent states and plunder resources.
In the eyes of the British colonists, making money always came first.
Singapore, the Governor's Palace of the Straits Settlements.
Ever since the Burmese sent out partial troops to recover the Tanah area.
Brandell, the governor of the Straits Settlements, has been having trouble sleeping and eating because after losing the Tanah area, the Straits Settlements will become isolated.
Although it is still separated from the Malay region by a section of Thailand.
But now the entire east side of Bengal is back in the hands of the Burmese.
Brandel always felt uneasy.
The large Chinese plantations in Malay areas are already enough to give him a headache.
Kelantan, the former dependent state of the Straits Settlements, attacked a large local Chinese plantation.
As a result, they were severely defeated by the Chinese, and even the palace was captured by the local Chinese.
These Chinese families did nothing but destroy the aboriginal kingdom. Then they established the Landan Republic in the local city and issued letters of credence to the Straits Settlements.
Brandel knew that this was a very bad start, and Chinese people in other places would definitely follow suit after learning about it.
So he gathered five thousand troops from the colonies.
Of course, these are basically local native soldiers.
They used the banner of helping Kelantan to restore its country, but in the end they still lost the battle with the support of the fleet.
The newly established Landan State alone would certainly not be able to withstand the attacks of the natives and naval artillery.
However, a large number of Chinese reinforcements suddenly appeared.
Moreover, they abandoned the seaside area, and the British fleet could not land.
At this point, Brandel could only report the matter.
In order not to provoke unanimous resistance from the colonial Chinese.
Brandel could not take things too far. He could only take less drastic measures to manage the Chinese in the colony.
Brandel has now stepped up surveillance of Chinese residents in Singapore.
They are strictly prohibited from possessing weapons. But he cannot prohibit the activities of these Chinese.
Most of these Chinese in Singapore have plantations in other places.
In those remote places, the British had no control over them.
This place in Singapore is just a store they set up.
Each family retains its own property only for the convenience of trade.
According to Brandel's secret investigation, many Chinese families have moved their main residences out of Singapore.
Because the Chinese in the Malay Archipelago and the East Indies have established many small countries.
These small countries are protected and supported by the Renaissance Army.
There are also many people who just established plantations.
But the cities they formed based on plantations have become like city-states.
Many such Chinese city-states united and continuously invaded and seized the land of the natives.
Use war to compress the living space of the natives.
Brandel didn't understand why the Chinese, who were originally a mess, suddenly became united.
In fact, the most fundamental reason is profit.
Originally, before the Fuxing Army established a city, the trade between these Chinese and the mainland was squeezed by both the Qing court and foreigners.
So they could only rely on these colonists.
Earn profits by serving these colonists and doing some industries that the colonists are unwilling to do.
It can be said that at that time they were dependent on the colonists.
But after the Renaissance Army was established, Dong Shuheng opened a green trade channel for them in order to win over these Chinese from Southeast Asia.
At that time, the Haimen Port established by the Huai Navy mainly served these Nanyang Chinese.
Through triangular trade with the Renaissance Army and foreigners.
The incomes of these Nanyang Chinese soared.
They obtained goods in short supply from Huai Haijun and sold them exclusively to foreigners.
At the same time, they also transported urgently needed food, minerals and other strategic materials to the Huai Navy at that time.
Played an important role in the early development of the Renaissance Army.
In the early days of Dong Shuheng's development, what he lacked most was food.
At that time, Jiangnan and Huguang, the main grain producing areas, suffered great damage due to the Taiping Army uprising.
Food production has been greatly affected.
At this time, the entire Qing Dynasty was in a state of food shortage.
As the saying goes, whoever has food is the grass-head king.
Dong Shuheng quickly gathered a large amount of grain through this kind of trade.
With this food, he was able to recruit so many refugees to help him build water conservancy projects in northern Jiangsu.
The initial move to win over Nanyang businessmen was considered the right move.
These refugees also provided him with a large source of immigrants and a steady stream of soldiers.
As a businessman, it is natural to be close to profit and align with "money".
Now the object they are attached to has become the Renaissance Army.
With the unremitting support of the Renaissance Army, the strength of the Chinese grew rapidly.
As the Renaissance Army continued to immigrate to Southeast Asia.
The number of local Chinese has also increased sharply, which has also enhanced the strength of the local Chinese.
With strength and a backing, the Chinese gradually discovered that the most precious thing here in Nanyang turned out to be the land here.
Because the goods they can trade with the Renaissance Army are obtained from the land.
Originally, they were buying from others, so the cost would undoubtedly be higher.
The food, sugar cane, and rubber grown on the land here are all profitable things, and the mineral deposits dug out of the soil here can also be turned into money.
Profit drives these Chinese's desire for land.
Therefore, it was only natural for the local Chinese to resist colonial rule and seek independence.
To put it bluntly, the root of all this is profit.
The Renaissance Army only played a catalyst role.
However, there are currently not many colonies under the direct jurisdiction of the British in Southeast Asia.
There is only one Brooke Kingdom in Borneo that can barely be considered a British influence.
In Southeast Asia, the colonies directly under the British control were still the cities in the Malay Peninsula.
As for other places, they can only be regarded as spheres of influence.
To say that the colony with the largest area in Southeast Asia should currently belong to the Netherlands.
But the glorious days of the Dutch sea coachmen were long gone.
Now the Netherlands has become a second-rate country in Europe, perhaps even worse than Spain.
This is also one of the reasons why the Chinese established the most countries within the sphere of influence controlled by the Netherlands.
For example, Lan Fangguo can now suppress the Dutch.
Originally there was a Spaniard who had a large presence in Southeast Asia.
After the war between the Renaissance Army and the Spanish, the Spanish were completely driven out of the Nanyang region.
Now only the British and the Dutch are left in Nanyang.
Brandel had previously talked to the Dutch Governor about curbing the development of the Chinese.
However, the Dutch did not give Brandel a definite answer because they had a bad experience with the Chinese before.
They just accused the Chinese with righteous indignation of destroying the original order of the colony.
But when it comes to sending troops, they act very ambiguous.
Brandel knew that the Dutch were giving in.
After all, there were too many Chinese in the areas controlled by the Dutch.
The Chinese backstage Renaissance Army has occupied the Luzon area.
The Sultanate of Sulu, which borders the Dutch colony in the south of Luzon, has also completely fallen to the Renaissance Army.
Under this situation, the Dutch no longer dared to provoke them easily.
During the previous Battle of Manila, the Dutch envoys in Manila also sent back some information.
The Dutch are now far less powerful in the East than the Spanish.
At this time, there is absolutely no reason for the Renaissance Army to take action against the Dutch.
After a battle with the Spanish, the strength of the Renaissance Army has been generally recognized by the Western powers.
Brandel has no better idea now.
Now he just wants to maintain the Straits Settlements.
The Straits Settlements control the connection between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
This is an important pillar of the British Empire's maritime supremacy.
He has already felt the strong threat posed by the Renaissance Army to this place.
This place was very important to the British Empire.
Similarly, if the Renaissance Army wants to rise and compete for maritime hegemony, the best way is to occupy the Strait of Malacca.
In this way, they can lock the throat between the East and the West with the least amount of troops.
For the Renaissance Army, Singapore is too tempting.
Brandel believed that what he could understand, the Renaissance Army must also know.
Now they are fighting Spain, taking over Luzon, and supporting the Chinese in Southeast Asia. Perhaps they are preparing to seize the Strait of Malacca.
At this time, the Salween River was also above the Nu River in China.
A fleet is slowly sailing south. This fleet is very large.
The draft of these ships is very deep, but it is impossible to see what is on board.
It can be seen from this that the items on top must be relatively heavy.
Huang Qiming is the leader of this fleet, and they are not an ordinary merchant fleet.
The people on the boat were all wearing the uniforms of the Renaissance Army.
This is an engineering unit of the Renaissance Army.
The Engineer Corps is a special branch of the Renaissance Army.
They are mainly responsible for the construction of some military factories and the construction of some strategic roads.
The highest concentration of engineering troops under the Renaissance Army is now in the plateau area.
There, there are at least three engineering divisions with nearly 30,000 to 40,000 people building the highway from Chengdu to the plateau.
It is very difficult to build this road on the plateau.
Moreover, the climate and environment are quite harsh. In the hypoxic environment, many people cannot even maintain the most basic actions, let alone work.
Therefore, those engineering troops were mainly recruited from serfs on the plateau.
Dong Shuheng originally hoped to slowly dismantle the local serfdom system through this move.
At least this can save a lot of trouble and have the effect of boiling a frog in warm water.
Facts have proven that engineering troops can indeed play a big role.
The engineering force led by Huang Qiming is more professional.
They were previously responsible for the construction of many coastal military ports and defensive fortresses.
This is an engineering force specialized in building military ports.
At the farthest point, Huang Qiming's team visited the Aleutian Islands.
Generally speaking, they spend more time in the north.
Although he has never fought in a war, Huang Qiming is already a lieutenant colonel officer. He manages an engineering corps and is responsible for more than three major projects.
"Huangtou, are we going to the south this time? I heard it is summer all year round." A young engineer came over and asked.
"Yes, Xiao Huangmao, didn't you see that we only brought summer clothes? Didn't you always shout that there was no fruit or vegetables to eat in the north? I tell you that where we go, there is food all year round.
Endless fruit." Huang Qiming said with a smile.
They had rested in Kunming for a few days, and then escorted the things overland to Mengnao, where they boarded the ship.
The Fuxing Army has been dredging two major rivers out of Yunnan and looking for Yunnan's southward outlet to the sea.
The southern part of Yunnan is covered with continuous mountains and hills.
The road is very difficult. But there are two rivers in Yunnan that both lead to the sea.
One is the Lancang River passing through Nanzhang, Zhenla, and Nanqi into the Pacific Ocean.
There is also the Nu River, which crosses the Shan State Plateau and flows into the Andaman Sea of the Indian Ocean. Its outlet is the port city of Mawlamyine.
In this way, Yunnan can completely connect the two oceans through waterways.
However, the upper reaches of these two rivers have fast currents and numerous reefs.
This is why Huang Qiming and others have to board the boat from Mengnao this time, because the river further upstream is still unblocked.
Huang Qiming and the others carried not only construction materials for building the port, but also dozens of heavy-duty coastal defense guns. Each of these big guns weighed more than ten tons.
Transporting them to Mengnao would be a waste of effort. If they could travel by water, they would never travel by land.
The destination of Huang Qiming and the others was Moulmein, which is located at the estuary of the Nu River.
They were ordered to build a military port there and a supporting defensive fortress.
Although the area is now nominally controlled by the Myanmar Army, the handover to the Baath Army has already begun.
The Renaissance Army has even built a shipyard in Pasang, an area controlled by the Renaissance Army in the middle and lower reaches of the Nu River, and started manufacturing gunboats.
The British fleet is now patrolling and monitoring the Andaman Sea. They must not have thought that the Renaissance Army would come down the Nu River.
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