Chapter 149: The Age of Empire

One month after Ye Zhao took the "Beihe" to Maputo, although the living space of the SJP Party was suppressed, it had obtained the opportunity to negotiate face-to-face with the Singapore colonial authorities under the coordination of China and Britain. A large number of ** Party members led by Fan Wenxuan announced that they would form another "New Party". The latest chapter of the temple

The division of the ** Party also made the British colonial authorities stand aside the ** Party under pressure from China. The split party adhered to the principle of armed struggle and insisted on overthrowing the colonial government by force, which became the target of severe crackdown by the British colonial authorities.

However, no matter what, the whole world has seen Chinese people starting to intervene in Singapore and show their ability to influence Singapore and some European media believe that the British Empire has finally encountered strong challenges in the East.

Amidst the chaos, the fleet where the Lingshan was located arrived in Maputo.

The Chinese have been operating in Maputo for more than ten years. Today, Maputo is the largest port city along the East Indian Ocean coast of southern Africa, with a population of more than 300,000. Especially the opening of the railway between Maputo and Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal Republic, was 16 years earlier than in history, which led to the rapid development of the Maputo Port. Last year, the immigrant population increased by more than 50,000, and the port's throughput capacity exceeded Cape Town. This shining pearl along the Indian Ocean coast was called "Black Pearl" and "Shanghai of Black Africa" ​​by the Chinese.

After Ye Zhao arrived in Maputo, he became a big farmer. In the suburbs of Maputo, on the Transvaal border and in the area of ​​Pretoria, the central area of ​​Transvaal, Mr. Wen owned a total of more than 50,000 square kilometers of land.

Communication is inconvenient now, and Ye Zhao broke up with Christina and Gulishayer when he left Xinjiapo, and Lingshan also returned to China. No foreign spies noticed that Ye Zhao quietly changed his identity.

In the suburbs of Maputo, Ye Zhao has a farm with an area of ​​more than ten square kilometers. It is considered a small farm in Maputo Province, but it is one of the earliest farms. It was also the first step to ask Jin Feng to make a look in order to attract Chinese people to reclaim the farm. When he came to this farm with corn and millet and wheat, Ye Zhao couldn't help but think of Jin Feng again, and was sad.

There are 237 black people living in the farm, including more than 100 adult male and female workers, and several young workers. Children under the age of thirteen are unpaid, but most of them participate in the work under the leadership of their parents.

Like all colonies, the overseas provinces of the Empire Maputo implemented a segregation policy, and blacks were designated to live in areas, and there were no rights for immigrants. Although the Brussels Declaration reached at the Brussels Conference that discussed Africa after the Sino-Russia War promised to help all ethnic groups in Africa move towards civilization and give autonomy at appropriate times, it was the earliest colony on the coast of Africa that was invaded by Europeans. The original living structure of the indigenous people was severely damaged, and only their social structure could be destroyed. If they wanted to get rid of ignorance and achieve the requirements of a "civilized society", it was obviously far away, let alone the vast coastal areas of Africa that had just been exposed to the outside world and the inland Africans that had not been fully explored by explorers.

On Yezhao's farm, there is a cement road leading to the city of Maputo. Many other farms do not have such convenient conditions, which also shows the wealth of the owners of this small farm.

The cement road leads to the palace-style villa manor. A few miles east of the villa, dozens of cylinder-like huts are scattered. This is the living area for black workers.

Ye Zhao did not stay in this small farm for a few days, but soon took a train to Hanzhou Town. The Hanzhou area was originally called Shangwatfair by Boers and Western immigrants. With the arrival of Chinese immigrants, the Maputo-Pretoria railway line passed through this place, making Hanzhou Town a transportation and trade hub. In addition, it was the western frontier of the overseas province of Maputo, which was connected to the Boers South Africa (Transva) Republic in the east and the Zulu Kingdom in the south. Moreover, the border boundaries were blurred. Therefore, in Hanzhou Town, the empire had a strengthening battalion, and there were two battalions of the Maputo Overseas Provincial Guard (Black Mercenaries). The latest chapter of the temple

In the south of Hanzhou Zhennan, Ye Zhao owns more than 5,000 square kilometers of land, and there are farms run by Chinese people. In the southern region, there are also Bantu tribes from generation to generation. These Bantu people now have to pay taxes of varying amounts to Chinese landlords, and determine the tax amount based on the land area and fertility. This is also impossible. Who said that the southern region was sold to the Chinese by a large Zulu tribe chief a few years ago?

At that time, the head of the Zulu tribe lost power in the war. Seeing that his status was in danger, he immediately signed a contract with the Chinese and sold the land he owned to the Chinese. With the help of the Chinese, he went to Maputo to take refuge. The defeated Zulu tribe was helpless. However, last year, the Zulu tribe, which had been eyeing this land, was defeated in the fight with another tribe and gradually declined.

On this land under Ye Zhao's name, the Bantu tribes that live mainly are Zulu and Swazi. The detailed population has not been counted, and there are about tens of thousands.

Between Pretoria and the Val River in Devasland, Ye Zhao also owns a narrow strip of thousands of square kilometers. In order to fight against the British, the Boer government was very happy to sell land to the Chinese. Ye Zhao's agent bought one in the east and one in the west. In addition, the land purchased from the original landlord at a high price gradually connected the land between Pretoria and the Val River into a whole area, with an area of ​​nearly ten thousand square kilometers. However, Ye Zhao's agents at that time also did not know that this barren area was the largest gold mining area in the world.

On the railway line from Maputo to Hanzhou Town, Ye Zhao fully appreciated the scenery of southern Africa. The blue sky seemed to be within reach, large areas of lovely clouds like marshmallows, and endless savannas that stretched for thousands of miles and could not see the end. The giraffe proudly raised her slender neck and pondered in the morning sun of the jungle. Next to the railway line, the elephant was leisurely walking, which made people truly appreciate the broad meaning.

Hanzhou Town has a small population. Although it is a town that has developed in recent years, it looks like an ancient oriental city. The outer city has rammed earth walls and artillery towers at four corners. Because the most likely threat faced by Hanzhou Town is nothing more than the attacks of indigenous people and ferocious beasts, even if it is a war with the Zulu tribe, the square ox formation that the Zulu tribe is best at, the ancient traditional fortifications of the empire is exactly what it takes, and it will definitely turn the attack of cold weapons into a slaughterhouse.

It was a confrontation with the Boers. In the early days of the war, the Boers did not have heavy firearms to support them, and Hanzhou City was also as solid as a rock.

When Ye Zhao got off at Hanzhou Station, he had a large team responsible for managing African farms to pick him up, but it was Tao Wen, who was Tao Chaoqing, the director of the Interior Bureau when the Interior Bureau was just raised, second only to Rui Sier. He has retired and is an advisor to the Interior Bureau. He was sent to Africa by Ye Zhao's tribe. He has also maintained contact with the Interior Bureau's internal affairs security personnel of the Maputo Interior Bureau and has put him here. He has won several goals. He changed his name shortly after the previous dynasty was destroyed.

I rode all the way to the city by carriage. Although it was thousands of miles away, it was like a small town in the Central Plains, with long streets in the center, many signs of wine banners, hawkers kept shouting, twists and turns of the alleys, and there were many courtyards with pink walls and green wood, which made people feel a sense of intimacy.

"No longer stop in the town, go to the village." In the carriage, Ye Zhao twisted the Buddhist beads in his hand and closed his eyes and thought.

Tao Chaoqing, who was half sitting next to the carriage, hurriedly bowed and said, although there were officials in the town waiting for Ye Zhao, Tao Chaoqing knew Ye Zhao's identity and would not say much.

The officials waiting for Ye Zhao in Hanzhou were officials from overseas provinces who were negotiating with the Boers. When they heard that the boss of Butler Tao had arrived, they wanted to visit and discuss the land.

After a while, Ye Zhao said: "You tell them to find a way to talk to the Boers. It is best to take a charter in the Var River as an enclave in the overseas province."

The focus of negotiations between overseas provinces and Boers today is the land obtained by imperial citizens in Transvaal. Although the Boers will not tear up the contract, they strongly stated that foreign citizens do not enjoy the rights of Transvaal citizens. If land owned by foreign citizens is mined, the Transvaal government will impose a mining tax of 50 to 70% of the time, and the mining rights need to be approved by the Transvaal government and have a certain period of time.

Ye Zhao hopes to take advantage of the large-scale gold rush to get rid of the firewood before it arrives. After all, it is impossible to send someone to guard the land. If explorers discover this extremely rich treasure, things will be out of control.

Tao Chaoqing said, "Yes, I will do it now." Although he didn't know the value of this enclave, the emperor ordered that he should do it quickly.

Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Don't be so anxious, just talk to the people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

Tao Chaoqing is also known as yes.

If pressure is put on the above, overseas provincial officials will show unusual interest in this land when negotiating with the Boers, which may make the Boers suspicious. However, the advice given to overseas provincial officials through the identity of landlords will naturally be much, and this matter may be decided. After all, the diamond mines and gold mines discovered today are in the far south and have nothing to do with the enclave on the Val River.

However, even if this enclave can become the territory of overseas provinces, once gold mines are started to be mined and the value of this land is leaked, I am afraid that it can only be resolved by war in the end. Perhaps, the powers of the East and West under various contradictions will eventually determine the new international order through a war. For China and Britain, provoking war in Africa to teach the Chinese a lesson is obviously the best choice for the British.

But no matter what, it is a top priority to own this land from a legal perspective. If you withdraw from the struggle in Africa because of fear of war, it is not very wise to think about it in this imperialist era. It is just that the rise of the empire requires great sacrifices from a generation or even several generations. How cruel is the price?

Ye Zhao thought and sighed deeply.
Chapter completed!