Dontgonearthere
21-08-2007, 21:41
Beijing, Empire of Japan
The bustling streets of the largest city on Earth were, if anything, slightly more bustling today. Word was going around that the Emperor was preparing a new wave of colonisation, this time to the south of the Oregon colonies, a place Spanish explorers had called 'California' when they arrived there. Rumours abounded from explorers and native traders that this land was full of gold, that the people living there wore clothes made of it. It was terribly tempting, and official sanction from the Emperor made it even more tempting. As, quite possibly, the richest man on Earth, the Emperor could well afford to finiance such an expedition, and word had gone out that as many as fifteen thousand colonists had been found, and that the Emperor had put in an order for many passenger ships to take the colonists to the new land.
Musashi Ieyasu was glowering at the city from the top chamber of his castle. He disliked Beijing intensly. It was full of Chinese, for one thing. It was also full of their architecture, language, and smell. His castle had been built with a perfect view of the former Forbidden City, now the 'Imperial Museum of the History of China and Public Parks,' you didnt have to be a specialist in Chinese history to know that destroying such a piece of Chinese culture would not help the occupation, but that didnt stop Musashi from wanting to burn it to the ground and scatter the ashes across Siberia.
And now this business with the Emperor...
He was not fond of the Chinese. Their...performance in the Sino-Japanese Wars had proven that they were both without honor and poor soldiers. China had not proved difficult to take, and those rebellions that arose, while large in numbers, were often poorly led and even more poorly equipped.
It was so very...unsatisfying.
There was a 'thunk' as the door to his room opened.
"Pardon, Musashi-dono, the Emperors messenger has arrived." The page scooted quickly to the side as the messenger entered the room.
"The Emperor sends his regards, Musashi-dono. He requests that you double-check to ensure that the preparations are ready for the transfer of cargo, and states that the transport vessels will be completed on schedual. The new posters are going up now, and he anticipates the reports of your success with great eagerness."
The Daimyo nodded, dismissing the messenger. The posters were perhaps a bit much, simply spreading the rumour around had done the work.
"Extend the Prosperity of Asia across the Ocean! Travel to America and become Rich!" was the general gist, although the exact message varied a bit. It was invariably accompanied by pictures of smiling Chinese with hoards of gold in front of a vast house (of the Japanese style).
As if these lazy people could ever attain that sort of wealth. Most of them were content with their single room hovels and dirt roads.
Staring out at Beijing once more, the Daimyo let his gaze fall upon the warehouses, recently constructed along the rail line to the East. The noise was easy enough to cover up, but the smell was starting to attract attention. Fourtunatly the Emperors plan was going to be put into motion soon, so it wouldnt be an issue in a while. Then they could burn the damn warehouses and hope the stench went with them.
---
A week later, the Beijing trainyards were covered in a vast human sea, interspersed with the sandbars formed by trains and train tracks. Special Police, under the supervisiion of a few somewhat disgruntled looking Samurai, shoved Chinese 'voluntiers' into position in front of cars, then shoved them inside. The process had been going on for hours now, and the yard was still packed with an ever growing crowd of people hauled over from the warehouses.
Concern had been raised that it would take more raw labour than the Japanese could muster to properly exploit a new Californian colony, that a mere 10,000 Japanese could scarcly hope to lay effective claim the massive resources of that land, unspoiled as yet by any presence save the natives, who were hunter-gatheres anyway and didnt have any concept of mining.
The solution was, apparently, quite simple.
Make a list of Chinese citizens who had come up short on taxes, commited any crimes, or were generally not approving of the Japanese Imperial Government, and round up them, their families, and maybe their friends for good measure. Drop them off in warehouses in a few designated cities, and then ship them to America en masse. The idea had come from a newspaper displaying the European method of shipping African slaves to America. Of course, now it was possible to build much larger ships to make more effecient trips. Estimates said that it would be quite possible to fit two or three thousand Chinese on a ship for transport, a brief stopover at Hawaii to stretch their legs, then on to California where they would be given the chance to 'work of their debt' in regards to transport costs, and of course, clearing of their criminal records and so forth. Of course, a few might die en route, but that was hardly an important issue, was it?
A full train, brimming with eager little Chinese headed to a new life, chugged its way out of the station, heading for Tianjin and its dockyards.
There was no accurate official count, but overall, nearly 350,000 Chinese vanished from the cities.
---
The Pacific Ocean
Captain Arimaki glanced across the deck. At least fifty sick Chinese were laid out in the sun, the ships single doctor moving between them. The ships passengers were constantly monitored for any sign of sickness by the guards, who had all been given some basic medical training. Disease would spread like a grassfire in this environment, and even if they were just Chinese, it was important to get at least SOME of them to California. Losing the entire cargo would not be a good career move.
The doctor was now moving between patients, calmly issuing marks with a grease pen. The ones that were marked were hauled off to the side, the unmarked ones sent to the quarantine wing of the ship to see if they would get better. The quarantine area was open to the sea, in the hopes that the salt would at least keep the bacteria from spreading, and the sunlight helped a little as well. The rest of the ships hull, which was crammed with as many Chinese as would fit, had no windows and only the most basic of facilities needed to live. The though ones would survive, the weak ones...
Arimaki grimaced and looked away as the chains rattled against the deck, it was, to the Japanese, a small mercy that they weighed the prisoners down before throwing them overboard. At least they drowned quickly instead of waiting hours or even days until they were too dehydrated or weak to keep afloat. The last one slipped over the deck, seemingly barely concious as to what was going on.
It had to be done, of course. If they were left on the ship everybody would be in danger, especially on such a long voyage. Right?
The captain fiddled with the cover of his seat, picking at it nervously. Only two more weeks, then he could go home and forget about all this. He wasnt paid enough to do this sort of thing anyway.
There was no official death toll amoung the ships traveling, but its thought that as many as 50,000 Chinese died in transit.
---
Dazaifu, Japanese California
The first wave of Chinese and Japanese colonists had immidiatly put to work constructing docks to bring in more colonists, and every day thousands more arrived in Dazaifu. Conditions were unpleasant. It rained. A lot.
An impressivly large shanty town quickly arose on the spot, along with similar arrangements in the other five cities along the coast, local kokujin quickly got around to arranging proper housing for themselves.
In a few weeks, Japanese California had a population of 310,000 people, and growing.
The bustling streets of the largest city on Earth were, if anything, slightly more bustling today. Word was going around that the Emperor was preparing a new wave of colonisation, this time to the south of the Oregon colonies, a place Spanish explorers had called 'California' when they arrived there. Rumours abounded from explorers and native traders that this land was full of gold, that the people living there wore clothes made of it. It was terribly tempting, and official sanction from the Emperor made it even more tempting. As, quite possibly, the richest man on Earth, the Emperor could well afford to finiance such an expedition, and word had gone out that as many as fifteen thousand colonists had been found, and that the Emperor had put in an order for many passenger ships to take the colonists to the new land.
Musashi Ieyasu was glowering at the city from the top chamber of his castle. He disliked Beijing intensly. It was full of Chinese, for one thing. It was also full of their architecture, language, and smell. His castle had been built with a perfect view of the former Forbidden City, now the 'Imperial Museum of the History of China and Public Parks,' you didnt have to be a specialist in Chinese history to know that destroying such a piece of Chinese culture would not help the occupation, but that didnt stop Musashi from wanting to burn it to the ground and scatter the ashes across Siberia.
And now this business with the Emperor...
He was not fond of the Chinese. Their...performance in the Sino-Japanese Wars had proven that they were both without honor and poor soldiers. China had not proved difficult to take, and those rebellions that arose, while large in numbers, were often poorly led and even more poorly equipped.
It was so very...unsatisfying.
There was a 'thunk' as the door to his room opened.
"Pardon, Musashi-dono, the Emperors messenger has arrived." The page scooted quickly to the side as the messenger entered the room.
"The Emperor sends his regards, Musashi-dono. He requests that you double-check to ensure that the preparations are ready for the transfer of cargo, and states that the transport vessels will be completed on schedual. The new posters are going up now, and he anticipates the reports of your success with great eagerness."
The Daimyo nodded, dismissing the messenger. The posters were perhaps a bit much, simply spreading the rumour around had done the work.
"Extend the Prosperity of Asia across the Ocean! Travel to America and become Rich!" was the general gist, although the exact message varied a bit. It was invariably accompanied by pictures of smiling Chinese with hoards of gold in front of a vast house (of the Japanese style).
As if these lazy people could ever attain that sort of wealth. Most of them were content with their single room hovels and dirt roads.
Staring out at Beijing once more, the Daimyo let his gaze fall upon the warehouses, recently constructed along the rail line to the East. The noise was easy enough to cover up, but the smell was starting to attract attention. Fourtunatly the Emperors plan was going to be put into motion soon, so it wouldnt be an issue in a while. Then they could burn the damn warehouses and hope the stench went with them.
---
A week later, the Beijing trainyards were covered in a vast human sea, interspersed with the sandbars formed by trains and train tracks. Special Police, under the supervisiion of a few somewhat disgruntled looking Samurai, shoved Chinese 'voluntiers' into position in front of cars, then shoved them inside. The process had been going on for hours now, and the yard was still packed with an ever growing crowd of people hauled over from the warehouses.
Concern had been raised that it would take more raw labour than the Japanese could muster to properly exploit a new Californian colony, that a mere 10,000 Japanese could scarcly hope to lay effective claim the massive resources of that land, unspoiled as yet by any presence save the natives, who were hunter-gatheres anyway and didnt have any concept of mining.
The solution was, apparently, quite simple.
Make a list of Chinese citizens who had come up short on taxes, commited any crimes, or were generally not approving of the Japanese Imperial Government, and round up them, their families, and maybe their friends for good measure. Drop them off in warehouses in a few designated cities, and then ship them to America en masse. The idea had come from a newspaper displaying the European method of shipping African slaves to America. Of course, now it was possible to build much larger ships to make more effecient trips. Estimates said that it would be quite possible to fit two or three thousand Chinese on a ship for transport, a brief stopover at Hawaii to stretch their legs, then on to California where they would be given the chance to 'work of their debt' in regards to transport costs, and of course, clearing of their criminal records and so forth. Of course, a few might die en route, but that was hardly an important issue, was it?
A full train, brimming with eager little Chinese headed to a new life, chugged its way out of the station, heading for Tianjin and its dockyards.
There was no accurate official count, but overall, nearly 350,000 Chinese vanished from the cities.
---
The Pacific Ocean
Captain Arimaki glanced across the deck. At least fifty sick Chinese were laid out in the sun, the ships single doctor moving between them. The ships passengers were constantly monitored for any sign of sickness by the guards, who had all been given some basic medical training. Disease would spread like a grassfire in this environment, and even if they were just Chinese, it was important to get at least SOME of them to California. Losing the entire cargo would not be a good career move.
The doctor was now moving between patients, calmly issuing marks with a grease pen. The ones that were marked were hauled off to the side, the unmarked ones sent to the quarantine wing of the ship to see if they would get better. The quarantine area was open to the sea, in the hopes that the salt would at least keep the bacteria from spreading, and the sunlight helped a little as well. The rest of the ships hull, which was crammed with as many Chinese as would fit, had no windows and only the most basic of facilities needed to live. The though ones would survive, the weak ones...
Arimaki grimaced and looked away as the chains rattled against the deck, it was, to the Japanese, a small mercy that they weighed the prisoners down before throwing them overboard. At least they drowned quickly instead of waiting hours or even days until they were too dehydrated or weak to keep afloat. The last one slipped over the deck, seemingly barely concious as to what was going on.
It had to be done, of course. If they were left on the ship everybody would be in danger, especially on such a long voyage. Right?
The captain fiddled with the cover of his seat, picking at it nervously. Only two more weeks, then he could go home and forget about all this. He wasnt paid enough to do this sort of thing anyway.
There was no official death toll amoung the ships traveling, but its thought that as many as 50,000 Chinese died in transit.
---
Dazaifu, Japanese California
The first wave of Chinese and Japanese colonists had immidiatly put to work constructing docks to bring in more colonists, and every day thousands more arrived in Dazaifu. Conditions were unpleasant. It rained. A lot.
An impressivly large shanty town quickly arose on the spot, along with similar arrangements in the other five cities along the coast, local kokujin quickly got around to arranging proper housing for themselves.
In a few weeks, Japanese California had a population of 310,000 people, and growing.