Chen Lanbin was deeply humiliated and resentful by the tragic experience of South China University of Technology. In "Introduction to America", he said that American newspapers are full of articles based on conjecture. "Anyone who can bully China people will speak freely" and "make people feel resentful".
If the United States bullied China because of China's status as a great power, China could not argue with it, then second-rate countries, such as Spain, were forced to gradually change their attitude towards Chinese workers under China's powerful diplomatic offensive. It was Chen Lanbin who contributed to this diplomatic victory.
As a Spanish territory, Cuba used a large number of China workers in its development at that time. According to statistics, from the Opium War in 1840 to the prohibition of "coolie trade" in 1874, tens of thousands of Chinese workers were transported to Latin America every year. Chinese workers suffered a lot in Latin America and died in large numbers. For example, from 1847 to 1872, the number of China workers transported to Cuba was 1 1408 1, and to 1874, only 58,400 workers remained.
In order to confirm the fact that Cuba mistreated Chinese workers, the yamen of the Prime Minister initiated diplomatic negotiations with Spain (then called "Sbaglia") and sent letters to the envoys of Britain, Russia, France, the United States and the Netherlands, asking for arbitration. While sending Chen Lanbin to Cuba for investigation, he asked about the abuse of China workers in Cuba. Wade, the British envoy, said: "Japan (that is, Spain) once said that there was no abuse of Chinese workers, but China refused to believe it and should send personnel. If it is true, China has no compensation. "
The investigation team of Chen Lanbin arrived in Havana on March 1874, and visited the sugarcane plantations, pigsty, sugar factory and "official labor office" where China laborers were held in Havana and Cuba provinces. They collected a large number of written materials and 1 176 testimonies, and received 85 complaints signed by 1665 people, indicating that 80% of Chinese workers were abducted or lured, and confirmed that the abuse of Chinese workers was true.
On this basis, the Prime Minister's yamen finally won the support of the five countries, and forced Spain to rewrite Article 16 of the Cuban Chinese Workers Clause in 1877. Later, China set up a consulate in Havana.
Overseas Chinese wrote a eulogy: "The feeling of virtue will never be forgotten. Nine years in Wan Li, helping people cross the ocean; Amazing works are immortal. I ordered sixteen pieces by hand and made an appointment for my birthday. "
It should be said that Chen Lanbin has successfully completed the diplomatic task of protecting overseas Chinese. During the Cuban War of Independence, China fought bravely. On the "Monument to the Meritorious Contribution of Cuban Overseas Chinese to Cuba's Independence", there is a compliment from the author of China and Cuba's Independence, Conzat Quesada:
"China people in Cuba have no defectors, and China people in Cuba have no fugitives." Chen Lanbin was a student of Lin Zhaotang, the top scholar in Qing Dynasty. Lin Zhaotang's ancestral home is in Fujian, and his ancestors and Lin Zexu's ancestors are cousins. Lin Zhaotang's mother Shi Wen is a descendant of Wen Tianxiang. When Lin Zhaotang was a teacher in Zhaoqing, Guangdong, he thought that Chen Lanbin was a talented person, so he trained him greatly.
Later, Lin Zhaotang was seriously ill, and Chen Lanbin visited him many times, showing the good quality of respecting teachers and attaching importance to education.