The Age of Discovery is actually a history of global colonization, but the colonial path at that time was bloody and rough. European colonists swooped around the world like a swarm of locusts, taking away everything of value, even the lives of black slaves.
Gold, silver, cotton, grain, saltpeter, coal and iron, non-ferrous metals... countless raw materials were transported to the European mother countries at extremely low costs, and then a large number of industrial products were continuously dumped to the colonies.
This is an era in which maritime logistics is king. Whoever occupies the golden routes, owns more ships, and owns more colonies will own the whole world.
For those raw material supply bases and the markets for commodity dumping, European rule was undoubtedly very bloody and brutal, but for auxiliary colonies such as Tahiti, Europe adopted an extremely rough management model.
The European powers in the 18th and 19th centuries were just like the Eight Banners of the Manchu Qing Dynasty who had just taken over the Central Plains. They were vying for territory. If they found an island, an archipelago or even a continent in the sea, regardless of whether there were indigenous people on it, they would mark it on the map first. Draw the flag of your country on it.
It was an era that only knew about plundering but not construction. Island groups on the ocean either possessed various resources and became first-class colonies, directly ruled by European governors with their armies.
Or occupying the best geographical location can provide strategic deterrence to the golden route, which can become a second-class colony in Europe and garrison troops here to provide protection for the fleet.
The third-class colonies are pure supply areas like Tahiti. Although the scenery here is beautiful, the tourism industry was far from rising at that time. There are no important supplies here and it is not close to the golden waterway, so the Tahiti Islands belong to Europe's most marginalized colony.
When Xiao Letian negotiated with the French to claim the sovereignty of this archipelago, the negotiating ambassador did not even think of the existence of this land. Finally, he looked at the atlas and found out where France originally had such an archipelago.
Using useless islands to replace the compensation of real money and silver, in the eyes of people at the time, the French took a big advantage, because the Tahiti Islands at this moment had no value at all.
There are no resources to exploit, no population to dump industrial products, and it is not close to the golden waterway of the Pacific. In this era, there were only a small number of European natural scientists, poets, painters and travelers stationed here, and the rest did not even have a single soldier. stationed.
The handover of sovereignty of this kind of archipelago does not require any ceremony. After the treaty was signed in Beijing, Ryukyu sent officials to take thousands of immigrants directly by boat, read the treaty to the Europeans and indigenous people on each island, and then dismantled the French The establishment of a Ryukyu stone monument completed the transfer of power.
After European countries knew the news, they only slightly modified a few words on the official map, and did not even bother to reprint the world map.
In fact, Xiao Letian's claim to the Tahiti Islands was the same as the United States' purchase of Alaska at that time, and was called two stupid things.
All countries believed that this was a meaningless loss-making business, and even Bismarck shook his head with regret, thinking that Xiao Letian was a bit stupid.
France has a lot of overseas territories. Bismarck always thought that Xiao Letian would seize the French colony in Annan, that is, Vietnam, but he never expected that he would set his sights on the Pacific Ocean. At that time, the strategic importance of the Pacific was very low, being far below the Indian Ocean.
However, when Xiang Ying saw this beautiful archipelago with his own eyes, his soul was deeply shocked. Without considering the geopolitical significance, the beautiful scenery alone was already intoxicating.
Blue sky, white clouds, blue sea, white and delicate coral sand...soft sea breeze, exotic dance and vaguely delicious seafood, coconut trees, sunshine...all these together are a paradise on earth.
The five elders understood Xiang Ying's eyes, and they smiled and said, "We are all refugees who really can't survive in our mother country. We are penniless and have little land and property. When Tanggu and Ryukyu recruited pioneers, we were I came here with a narrow escape mentality..."
"At that time, we had no idea what this place was like. We thought it was some kind of hell on earth and that there was some hard work waiting for us. But we didn't expect that besides suffering a little trouble on the road, when we got here, we Everyone was dumbfounded!”
"We never imagined that there is such a paradise in the world, where people can have food without having to farm! There are fruits on the islands, and seafood in the sea. Although I was not used to eating at first, I couldn't stand it and it didn't cost any money!"
"There are no four seasons here. It's hot all year round. You can eat enough every day with just a little movement of your hands. No wonder the indigenous people all look indifferent. They don't know what it means to be hungry. Don’t you just enjoy happiness every day?”
The old people from the Qing Dynasty were not used to the life here. In their hearts, planting in spring, harvesting in autumn, and storing in winter was a matter of course. However, when they arrived here, they discovered that there was not much arable land for them to cultivate, and there was no need for storage during the long winter. Food, the long-standing survival experience of farming civilization suddenly lost its meaning.
People can't forget the strange looks the indigenous people gave them when they first opened up farmland. In the eyes of the indigenous people, the Chinese are still very easy to get along with because after all, the two sides have the same skin color and similar eyes, hair, and face shape. , there is a natural feeling of closeness.
Moreover, these Chinese people are very elegant. They will not secretly use some glass beads to lure the girls in the tribe, nor will they use pistols to force the indigenous people to work. The two groups of people did not interfere with each other, and there were no serious conflicts. Gradually, this place became a paradise in the mouth of the Chinese.
A small amount of farmland provides some supply of rice and vegetables. This is not to tide over the famine. It is just because of the eating habits of the Chinese people. The Chinese people really cannot survive without carbohydrates.
It's a pity that a small amount of rice can only satisfy people's hunger occasionally. Most of the time, they still have to rely on fishing and hunting. They go to the beach to fish, catch crabs, and drive small fishing boats out to sea. The rich seafood can fill the Chinese people's stomach, but Can't fill their hearts.
Soon, a silent operation to transform Tahiti began!
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