Chapter 1166: The King of California

The sixteenth day of the ninth month, the fifteenth year of Hongxing of the Great Ming.

The Sacramento Valley.

The battle was over. After the fierce fighting, the northern part of the Sacramento Valley was a ghastly scene of corpses strewn everywhere — from the flood valley all the way to the area around Honpa Temple, dead men and dead horses lay wherever one looked! Even heading south along the Sacramento River, fallen bodies could be seen all along the way. Though it was now autumn, the temperature in the Sacramento Valley was not low, and once the sun beat down, the stench of corpses spread through the area around Honpa Temple.

The Ming army and the Shimazu army, having finished their pursuit and returned to camp around Honpa Temple, had been busy since the sixteenth repairing fortifications, clearing the battlefield, and burying the dead. At the same time, they dispatched envoys to negotiate with the Spaniards entrenched in the Presidio fortress.

Of course there had to be negotiations!

Though the whole affair was in no way proper, the California war was still, in its nature, an imperialist war over colonies. Now that the California colony was about to fall into their hands, they could sit down and talk things over properly.

The demands of the New Continent United States (the Great Ming) were not high — just a few items.

First, the Spaniards were to withdraw from the Presidio fortress, the Angel Castle, and the San Diego fortress, and hand these three fortresses over to the rule of the New Continent United States.

Second, the two sides would take the Sonora Desert as their boundary and refrain from attacking each other — for the New Continent United States, before California was sufficiently developed, marching south across the Sonora Desert to attack Mexico was unrealistic. Since they could not go, they would not go for the time being.

Third, an exchange of prisoners and hostages — so many men of the Shimazu house had already died; how pitiful were those women and children? Besides, the New Continent United States had far more men than women! Those were precious resources!

Moreover, the women held by the Spaniards were all young, still in the prime years for childbearing!

Fourth, the signing of a trade agreement — capitalism, after all! War was war, and business was business. Since Mexico and Peru could not be conquered any time soon, then business had to go on!

And this trade agreement was also connected to the Great Ming's exploration and occupation of Australia!

Do not think that Emperor Zhu had placed heavy bets on the Americas and forgotten that corner of Australia. The plan to explore the "Southern Continent" had been advancing all along. It was only because going to the desolate northern coast of the Australian continent was of little significance, and would also provoke the Dutch, that it had not yet been launched.

But to follow the South Equatorial Current westward to explore the east coast of Australia, one had to go by way of the Americas — and best of all, sail south along the west coast of the Americas into the Southern Hemisphere, complete a resupply at a Spanish-controlled port, and then head west. That way, nothing could go wrong.

Besides negotiating with the Spaniards, they also had to talk with the Shimazu house and that Foolish King!

The Foolish King was no longer at Honpa Temple now; he had moved directly to Sacramento City to live together with Shimazu Nogi — the two had not even held a wedding, yet they were already sleeping together every day. Was that not far too improper? And the Foolish King did not intend to take Shimazu Nogi as a concubine, but to wed her openly and formally as his principal wife. That required the command of his parents — which meant it required the nod of the Chongzhen Retired Emperor, whose pension the Foolish King had swindled.

Furthermore, the Foolish King already had a first wife, who was presumably still recuperating in Nagasaki. How could he marry another in the New World? Two principal wives?

Of course, these improprieties were none of Qi Yuanbi's or Yu Daren's business — they were not officials of the Imperial Clan Court. But the Foolish King's retainer Hoshina Masateru brought Qi Yuanbi and Yu Daren a piece of news they had never expected — the Foolish King actually wanted to become King of California!

"What did you say? King of California? He — he wants to be King of California?"

"That is impossible! The court will never agree, and His Majesty will never agree!"

Inside Honpa Temple, Qi Yuanbi and Yu Daren were both somewhat angered, and were shouting at Hoshina Masateru!

"Calm yourselves, Generals. His Highness the Great King merely wishes to assume the title of king temporarily, in order to settle people's hearts," Hoshina Masateru had long known the other side would not be easy to talk to, but he, Shimazu Mitsuhisa, and Shimazu Nogi had already worked out their arguments.

That was right — it was the three of them doing the planning, as if the Foolish King had nothing to do with it!

These three devils had already cast themselves as Hojo Tokimasa, Hojo Masako, and Oe no Hiromoto. They were scheming to raise the Foolish King Zhu Cihuan into a Minamoto no Yoritomo of California — and at the very least, to grab the land south of the Sacramento Valley, so that they could then divide territory and skim profits in the name of King Cihuan of California.

"Settle people's hearts?" Qi Yuanbi roared. "Whose hearts?"

"Naturally, the hearts of the warriors who follow His Highness the Great King!" Hoshina Masateru said loudly. "In the California campaign, His Highness's warriors suffered casualties beyond counting, and they also won merit. Do they not deserve to be rewarded? All we seek is a piece of land to settle and live on, and to become a vassal of the Celestial Dynasty. That is not excessive in the slightest!"

Not excessive?

Qi Yuanbi's and Yu Daren's faces both turned green.

Because what Hoshina Masateru had said was "a vassal of the Celestial Dynasty," not a vassal of the United States. That meant the Foolish King wanted to stand on equal footing with the King of the United States!

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible!"

"Does the Commandery Prince of Chongqing intend to rebel?"

Hoshina Masateru shook his head and smiled. "How would His Highness the Great King dare rebel? His Highness merely wishes to become a protective screen for His Majesty. And whether it is permitted or not should be for His Majesty to say, should it not? The two Generals are but subjects. Is it proper for you to say such things?"

Hoshina's words were not wrong. Zhu Cihuan could petition for enfeoffment; whether it was granted was for Zhu Cilang to decide. Qi Yuanbi and Yu Daren indeed could not use Zhu Cihuan's petition as a pretext to send troops — petitioning for enfeoffment was not rebellion! Moreover, Zhu Cihuan was opening new territory in the New World, not asking for land in the Ming homeland.

Qi Yuanbi and Yu Daren exchanged glances, and both felt the difficulty.

Hoshina Masateru continued, "His Highness the Great King will formally petition the Son of Heaven for enfeoffment. What this humble official now discusses with you two is merely the arrangements before the Son of Heaven's decree arrives."

"Taking the whole of California is impossible," Qi Yuanbi also conceded a step. "The area around San Francisco cannot be given to the Commandery Prince of Chongqing."

Yu Daren added, "The Sacramento Valley cannot all be given to the Commandery Prince of Chongqing either."

The California of today was nothing like its later appearance. Because there was no Central Valley Project, the Sacramento Valley (the Central Valley) suffered floods in the north and drought in the south, and the land that could be developed and used was not very much. Apart from the Central Valley, what was valuable in California was the "Great Bay Area" of San Francisco, the coastal region from Angel City to San Diego, and the coastal mountains north of San Francisco.

The value of these territories simply could not compare with the Bay of the Americas to the north and the great and small river valleys there — that region had many rich plains, warm valleys, and crisscrossing rivers, and the cost and difficulty of development were very low.

The Shimazu father and daughter and Hoshina Masateru also knew their own weight. They did not dare dream of the "fat lands" of North America; they only dared think of the "wretched places" of California — and even then, they did not want all of it. How many people did they have? California was over four hundred thousand square kilometers, larger than Japan itself. How could they swallow it? Being able to take the stretch from Angel City to San Diego would already make them very happy — that piece of land was about the size of Kyushu! And if the Baja California peninsula were added, their territory would approach half of Japan!

The reason Hoshina now raised the matter of King of California was nothing more than making an exorbitant demand, waiting for Emperor Zhu on the other side of the Pacific to haggle.

So upon hearing Qi Yuanbi's and Yu Daren's words, Hoshina Masateru smiled and said, "The Great King only wants the land south of the Sacramento Valley! Surely that is acceptable? With His Highness holding the front line, the United States can develop the central and northern parts of California in peace."

"You do not want your territory in the Sacramento Valley either?" Qi Yuanbi asked.

"We do not!" Hoshina laughed. "As long as the United States can supply us with three years of rations, we will hand over our one hundred thousand mu of land in the Sacramento Valley to you for military farming."

Hoshina already knew that the United States did not lack grain, so he would not cling to those one hundred thousand mu of good fields that were easily flooded — the fields were good fields; in places where rainfall was not too heavy, land that was easily flooded was generally fertile.

Qi Yuanbi and Yu Daren exchanged glances, then both nodded.

"Then let it be so for now!" Qi Yuanbi said. "If the Spaniards are willing to give up the land of California, then the area south of the valley region shall temporarily be garrisoned by the Commandery Prince of Chongqing."

Yu Daren said, "It is only a temporary garrison. Whether a protective screen can be established must be decided by His Majesty!"

(End of Chapter)