The United States today is too far from paradise and too close to Mexico!
When Zhuge Weidao rode the battleship Hero and led his "Express Fleet" all the way south along the west coast of Mexico, he felt the power of Mexico for the first time!
Well, Mexico was actually quite strong in another timeline, forcing the United States to build the Great Wall...
However, the current strength of Mexico is not demonstrated by showing off, but is powerful in the true sense. Just looking at the endless coastlines of this Mexican empire will tell you how powerful it is. The current coastline of Mexico on the Pacific side starts from the border of California and Oregon in the north, and reaches the border of Nicaragua, which belongs to the Mexican Empire, and Panama, which belongs to the Republic of Gran Colombia, in the south. Not counting those twists and turns, it is just a random measurement along the coastline. , almost 6,000 kilometers.
The territory of the Mexican Empire reached 4.769 million square kilometers, which was only slightly smaller than the more than 5 million square kilometers of the United States next door. Although compared with the United States, which has endless great plains, the land in Mexico seems a bit rugged and barren. But considering that the Mexican Empire had a population of less than 10 million, the poor land was enough to support it.
However, the land in Mexico is not barren everywhere. There are also large plains in the northeast of the Mexican Empire, especially around the Gulf of Mexico (including Texas), which are quite fertile. Moreover, under the fertile land in that area, there is still a large amount of easily exploitable oil!
In addition to the oil around the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico also has gold from California, brass from Arizona, and silver from Mexico itself... It is simply a country full of rich attributes. As long as the resources under the ground are developed, just buying and buying will be enough to drink a pot of the United States in the north, which has not yet completed industrialization.
When the Mexican Empire first opened, the entire country was in trouble due to the massive withdrawal of European capital and talents. Emperor Agustin, who had no money to pay his troops, was almost overthrown by his military chiefs.
Fortunately, the Ming Empire's 60 million "California Loan" (conditional on Ming's development of California) and military assistance arrived in time, helping Emperor Agustin stabilize the situation. Now with the mining of gold in California and the recovery of local silver and gold mines in Mexico, Emperor Agustin is about to become a rich man.
In addition to having mines at home, Mexico now has a strategic advantage that makes Britain and Ming Dynasty covetous - there is a piece of land in Nicaragua that still belongs to Mexico that is particularly suitable for digging a canal connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans!
The two most popular canal plans in history to connect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are the Nicaragua plan and the Panama plan. The Panama plan has a relatively short distance, while the Nicaragua plan has the two major advantages of flat terrain and convenient transportation.
In fact, during the Spanish rule, a considerable part of the goods from the Pacific were transported to the Atlantic through the Leon Plains, the Two Lakes Basin and the San Juan Valley in Nicaragua. Therefore, the infrastructure from the Leon Plains to the mouth of the San Juan River is relatively complete and the level of development is also quite high. If we start digging a canal in Nicaragua, although the project volume will be larger, the living conditions and construction difficulty will be much smaller, so the cost will probably be lower.
If this canal can be completed within the next 10 years, it will be much easier for the Ming Empire's fleet to enter the Atlantic Ocean.
Of course, even without this canal, with the rich natural resources of the Mexican Empire, it is possible to build a powerful naval fleet on its own.
In addition, the Mexican Empire had a huge advantage that the United States did not have. That is, the Mexican Empire has a natural ally with the same culture and species - the Republic of Gran Colombia.
The territory of this country includes later Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela... These Latin American countries that have lived in the shadow of the United States in later generations are now being screwed by the legendary Latin American hero Simon Bolivar. It has become a unified Gran Colombia, which now has a territory of 2.42 million square kilometers, and is also very hopeful to include Peru and Bolivar (Bolivia), two countries that were also liberated by Bolivar. If Simon Bolivar's dream of nationhood finally comes true. Then the Americans will soon (this chapter is not over yet!)
Chapter 207 Too far from heaven, too close to Mexico
You will feel the pressure of being proud of Colombia!
For the purpose of containing the United States (the Zhuge family has always been hostile to the United States), Simon Bolivar's career has been funded by the Ming Empire, so during Zhuge Weidao's trip to the Americas, Gran Colombia was also a focus... If Gran Colombia can stand firm, even if it does not fight against the Chosen United States with the Mexican Empire, it will at least adopt a biased neutrality, which will be very beneficial to the Mexican Empire and the Ming Empire.
When the Ming Dynasty's "Express Fleet" approached the harbor of Acapulco, Zhuge Weidao stood on the bridge, his eyes distant and thoughtful.
Guo Xiaobao happened to walk in from the outside in a hurry. Wang Wen went to the Naval Staff College for further studies a few days ago. Guo Xiaobao happened to have completed his studies, so he was transferred by Zhuge Weidao to serve as chief staff officer - the old partners got together again.
When Zhuge Weidao saw him coming, he smiled and asked, "Baozhi, your father is a well-known American expert. You should accompany Emperor Agustin to the port of Acapulco, right?"
Guo Xiaobao's father, named Qian, is a professional diplomat who has served as attaché, secretary, and counselor of the Embassy in the United States, consul general in New Mexico City, ambassador to the United States, ambassador to Gran Colombia, ambassador to the Empire of Brazil, and now ambassador to the Empire of Mexico . He also met Washington in his early years, and later became very familiar with Simon Bolivar...I heard that they even worshiped Mr. Guan together and became brothers with different surnames, so Guo Xiaobao later met Bolivar and had to take care of people. Called "Uncle Simon."
Guo Xiaobao smiled and handed over a telegram and said: "I just received a telegram from the Consulate General in Acapulco. My father and Emperor Agustin arrived at the Port of Acapulco yesterday... The Mexican Emperor is very concerned about The Queen Mother and King of Hawaii deeply sympathize with the tragic situation and are willing to provide them with asylum."
Zhuge Weidao asked: "Baozhi, how was your conversation with the Queen Mother of Hawaii?"
Guo Xiaobao said: "It's all settled. As long as we can make Kamehameha III a marquis and give him an annuity of 100,000 silver dollars every year, we will also buy a building for the Kamehameha family in Mexico with an area of no less than 500 acres. Square kilometers of large estates, and a one-time resettlement fee of 1 million silver dollars. She is willing to accept our arrangement, lead the entire Kamehameha family into exile in Mexico, never return to the Kingdom of Hawaii, and will also recognize the Kingdom of Hawaii Resolution of the Provisional Parliament.”
"The asking price is not low..." Zhuge Weidao smiled, "But it's still acceptable!"
Guo Xiaobao nodded: "Yes, it is good to keep them... When the results of the Hawaii Kingdom's interim parliament's national affairs meeting come out, fools will know that we did this dirty work. If we kill Kameha again, The Miha clan seems too unkind and will not help us win over those powerful people from small countries in the future. Even Emperor Agustín will inevitably feel the sadness of the rabbit dying and the fox dying."
Zhuge Weidao nodded: "That's right, we can't scare His Majesty the Emperor... By the way, what's the international reaction to the Kingdom of Hawaii?"
Guo Xiaobao shook his head: "It's just a Pacific island country with hundreds of thousands of people. Not many people care. Oh, by the way, British Foreign Secretary Robert Peel and Lord of the Admiralty Lord Palmerston have arrived in the United States for a visit a few days ago."
Zhuge Weidao raised his head to the northeastern sky and thought: "The territory of the United States seems to be one of the main venues for a world war!"
Chapter 207 Too far from heaven, too close to Mexico
