June 1885
Amédée Courbet smiled[1], the war was just about over. It appeared that the Chinese were about to accept the treaty, the mandarin Li Hongzhang[2] was set to sign it. Amédée Courbet wasn't so sure they might accept the loss of territory, but the total defeat of whatever chinese forces there were in Hainan convinced Li to give it up.
The Chinese forces may have been more numerous, but they were all poorly equipped, there were plenty of times when only a fraction of their soldiers had rifles and they lost much of their numbers to disease. However, it appeared that all these factors has convinced Li to start reforming the chinese military.
A group of chinese men suddenly entered the room. They all had the pony-tails and dressed like a chinese bureaucrat. They were the officials of Hainan, they were all pretty much under someone from Guangdong[3].
"Gentlemen, I presume that you know about how you now work for us." said Courbet. His translator said it for him.
The Chinese men shifted about uncomfortably. However, they mainly maintained a inscrutable face.
"We have decided to leave the kings and emperors in charge of their respective territories[4], however, Hainan represents a challenge for us." said Courbet. "Since there's no king here, we've decided to make the chinese bureacracy more independent of Guangdong and keep the bureacracy as it is, under us of course."
The men looked at each other for a moment, Courbet suspected that some of them would refuse, but some would accept and Hainan will be part of the French empire. The chinese bureacracy will remain intact with the highest official responding to them, it was small and like the resistance they put up in the war, easy to tame.
[1] French admiral who led the French forces during the Sino-French war.
[2] Chinese official that signed the treaty with French.
[3] Hainan was part of Guangdong province at that time.
[4] The French left the local rulers rule as figureheads.
Amédée Courbet smiled[1], the war was just about over. It appeared that the Chinese were about to accept the treaty, the mandarin Li Hongzhang[2] was set to sign it. Amédée Courbet wasn't so sure they might accept the loss of territory, but the total defeat of whatever chinese forces there were in Hainan convinced Li to give it up.
The Chinese forces may have been more numerous, but they were all poorly equipped, there were plenty of times when only a fraction of their soldiers had rifles and they lost much of their numbers to disease. However, it appeared that all these factors has convinced Li to start reforming the chinese military.
A group of chinese men suddenly entered the room. They all had the pony-tails and dressed like a chinese bureaucrat. They were the officials of Hainan, they were all pretty much under someone from Guangdong[3].
"Gentlemen, I presume that you know about how you now work for us." said Courbet. His translator said it for him.
The Chinese men shifted about uncomfortably. However, they mainly maintained a inscrutable face.
"We have decided to leave the kings and emperors in charge of their respective territories[4], however, Hainan represents a challenge for us." said Courbet. "Since there's no king here, we've decided to make the chinese bureacracy more independent of Guangdong and keep the bureacracy as it is, under us of course."
The men looked at each other for a moment, Courbet suspected that some of them would refuse, but some would accept and Hainan will be part of the French empire. The chinese bureacracy will remain intact with the highest official responding to them, it was small and like the resistance they put up in the war, easy to tame.
[1] French admiral who led the French forces during the Sino-French war.
[2] Chinese official that signed the treaty with French.
[3] Hainan was part of Guangdong province at that time.
[4] The French left the local rulers rule as figureheads.
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