African Entrepreneurship Record

Of course, Endress also had a touch of humility. As a sandalwood merchant able to expand business into Europe, his backing and influence were considerable.

”Rog, my brother, the reason I called you here is because I need your help with something big.”

The main topic finally arrived, just as Moore finished brewing the coffee. Rog picked up his coffee and asked, ”What is it? As long as it’s within my capabilities, I will absolutely help you.”

Endress waved his hand with a smile and said, ”It’s a good thing, a great thing, otherwise I wouldn’t have come to you. After all, our relationship is like family.”

Rog asked calmly, ”Please enlighten me, brother.”

Endress did not directly answer Rog’s question but instead asked, ”Brother, what do you think of the Kingdom of Hawaii?”

”Hawaii?”

”That’s right, just talking about this place.”

After taking a sip of coffee, Rog replied, ”It’s naturally a great place. After all, our business flourished here.”

”Exactly, we came to Hawaii to become prosperous, and do you think the existence of the Kingdom of Hawaii as a feudal kingdom is beneficial to us?”

Upon hearing this, Rog sat up straight and said, ”What do you mean, Endress?”

Seeing Rog’s slightly tense expression, Endress patted his shoulder with a smile and said, ”Rog, my dear brother, you’re still too tense. Wasn’t I clear enough? The existence of the Kingdom of Hawaii severely restricts the interests of us merchants. The taxes alone each year are no small amount, which is detrimental to our development here. It pains me to think that this money is spent by the native royal family of Hawaii instead of being used for local construction!”

Rog took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and said, ”Are you suggesting that you want to overthrow the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii?”

Endress shook his head and said, ”I certainly do not have that capability, but the existence of the Kingdom of Hawaii does indeed severely limit the interests of the United States. This is the common thought among us all. I’m just not sure if you, brother, feel the same way.”

Having understood the situation, Rog naturally supported the actions of these Americans; if they didn’t act, East Africa would have no opportunity!

”Naturally, although the tax rates aren’t high, the bigger the business, the more we have to pay. So my thoughts align with those of my colleagues.”

Hearing Rog’s words, Endress, with a smile, said, ”There’s now an opportunity to jointly push for the progress of the Kingdom of Hawaii. I wonder if you, my dear brother, are interested.”

”Naturally.”

Endress said, ”Recently, Mr. Wilson, the president of our chamber of commerce, and several other influential chambers discussed this issue. They all believe that the Kingdom of Hawaii, being backward and feudal, is not suitable to exist in this world. So we plan to establish a democratic republic in Hawaii to achieve prosperity there.”

Endress’s rhetoric was something Rog didn’t believe a word of, but, of course, he vocally supported it.

Seeing that Rog supported the decision, Endress was pleased because Rog’s strength on Kauai was not insignificant. If Rog could be persuaded to join this action, their success rate would greatly increase.

After all, this was a coup. Although the Kingdom of Hawaii was backward, it was in a place where civilizations converged and continued to learn and progress. Therefore, the more people involved in the coup, the better the chance of immediate success.

Otherwise, if an unexpected counterattack occurred, it would likely benefit the British and French on the island, making it harder for the United States to control Hawaii.

Following Endress’s invitation, Rog, an East African spy, boldly participated in the Honolulu banquet with American merchants.

This banquet naturally aimed to discuss how to overthrow the rule of the Kingdom of Hawaii and establish a ”puppet” Hawaii Republic. To prevent eavesdropping, all attendees were Americans.

”Ladies and gentlemen, the specific time for this operation is March next year. At that time, with the support of the National Guard, we will overthrow the brutal rule of the Kingdom of Hawaii in one go...”

In fact, in January 1875, the Kingdom of Hawaii, under the pressure and temptation of the United States, signed the ”US-Hawaii Reciprocity Treaty”, granting the United States the most favored treatment in customs. This facilitated Hawaii’s export of sugar to the United States. It was also stipulated that Hawaii could not grant other countries most-favored-nation status, nor could it lease land to or grant port and territorial usage privileges to other countries. This marked Hawaii as a zone of exclusive influence for the United States, but Hawaii also reaped temporary economic benefits by exporting low-tariff sugar to the United States.

This was also why Rog operated in Hawaii as an American; otherwise, East Africa wouldn’t have had the opportunity to annex large tracts of land on Kauai.

After discovering the conspiracy of the American government, Rog immediately returned to Kauai after the banquet to discuss countermeasures with John Cran, the East African Governor in Hawaii.

”We still have three months, so our military training must accelerate. Meanwhile, we need to promptly notify the Jiaozhou Bay consulate and the South Ryukyu Islands navy, ensuring they arrive in Hawaii before March 15th. Of course, they shouldn’t arrive too early or too late; this is necessary for better intervention in this coup.”

John Cran, listening intently, replied seriously, ”Since the specific time isn’t clear, the navy’s arrival may have timing errors, so you’ll need to closely monitor the actions of the Americans. I will keep the information flowing back to the homeland.”

”As for the army, don’t worry. We’ve already increased Kauai’s armed forces to two thousand. Even if the Americans gather all their military forces in Hawaii, they won’t be able to do anything to us.”

Rog nodded and said, ”Once the coup begins, we must promptly control the Kingdom of Hawaii’s governor on Kauai and force him to declare Kauai’s secession from the Kingdom of Hawaii and re-establishment of independence, setting up a puppet government.”

Kauai was the only island among the Hawaiian Islands that wasn’t conquered by King Kamehameha with force but instead voluntarily submitted to the dynasty later.

The Hawaiian Islands weren’t actually a unified country before. It was later that Kamehameha the Great unified the whole archipelago into the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Because Kauai voluntarily submitted, the current governor of Kauai is indeed a descendant of the indigenous King of Kauai, Kauai.

This provided East Africa with an opportunity. Since Kauai could join the Kingdom of Hawaii, it could naturally also sever ties and leave the Kingdom’s control.

Of course, by that time, the Kingdom of Hawaii would no longer exist, being replaced by a puppet government set up by the Americans, the Hawaii Republic.

As soon as the Americans make a move, East Africa will push the current governor of Kauai to declare a withdrawal from the Kingdom of Hawaii and restore the indigenous kingdom on Kauai.

Of course, this indigenous kingdom would certainly be a puppet government, but as long as there is a just cause, East Africa could argue with the American government. As long as the Americans do not deploy their homeland troops, they wouldn’t be able to do anything to East Africa.

After all, if the United States is unrighteous first, East Africa can’t be blamed for being unjust. Everyone is just a bunch of scoundrels; if all countries evaluated, they would all be considered traitors and rogues, leading to everyone facing condemnation from the international community.

Of course, the international community mainly refers to England and France, possibly including Japan, since these countries have interests in Hawaii.