Zhenhai Road is not the most prosperous street in Shanghai, but it is definitely one of the most beautiful and spacious streets. The road is designed according to nine lanes. The green belt in the middle occupies one lane, with three lanes of horse-drawn carriages on both sides, and bicycle lanes on the outside. The sidewalk is also spacious, with two lanes wide.

Yi Zhizu designed such a wide road at the beginning, but it was criticized a lot. After all, such a spacious road was unheard of in the Qing Dynasty, even in European countries. However, Yuan Qi was not only rich but also land, and all the land from the old city of Shanghai to Baoshan were acquired by Yuan Qi. People only discussed this kind of prodigal behavior that was very fond of success.

As the new city becomes more prosperous and the population continues to increase, various carriages, rickshaws and bicycles are also increasing day by day. There are more and more vehicles passing through the road. Only then did some people praise Yi Shizu's foresight.

Zhenhai Road, which runs east-west, is not short, five kilometers long, with some government agencies scattered on both sides, but more are gardens of all kinds, large and small, built by gentry, celebrities, wealthy businessmen and tycoons. After the ban order was issued, carriages on the road soon fell off.

The black car drove to the intersection at an even speed. Yi Zhengxing ordered to stop, then pushed open the door and got out of the car. The instigator Wang Xinrui, who was standing at the intersection, recognized him at a glance, and quickly trotted up to greet him and saluted: "I have seen the prince in the instigator Wang Xinrui, the prince."

"You are smart." Yi Zhengxing smiled and said, he took out a few banknotes, "Pick a few good carriages and compete with this car to see who is faster. Two yuan is the travel fee for the competition. If you win, you will get twenty yuan!"

He was going to compete with the carriage, and Wang Xinrui quickly smiled and said, "The prince will wait for a moment and arrange it immediately."

There were already many carriages blocked at the intersection. When they heard that they had to compete with cars, they not only had travel expenses but also rewards. The coachman immediately exploded and quickly selected four carriages. The news spread and many people rushed to watch the fun.

Seeing this situation, the driver Xiao Song felt a little upset, "Criminal, how fast can the carriage reach?"

"This is mainly about horses. The average speed of 20 kilometers per hour should be fine. It is not uncommon for a good horse to run forty or fifty kilometers." Yi Zhengxing smiled and said, "But it is a bit difficult to run for a long time. This road is five kilometers, not long."

After hearing this, Xiao Song was immediately in a dilemma, "Criminal, this car is thirty kilometers per hour. If you lose..."

Yi Zhengxing smiled and said, "What are you afraid of? I will do everything."

As the flags were flying, the coachman of the four carriages waved his whip at the same time and "Driving--!" Xiao Song also tried his best. He stepped on the accelerator and skillfully shifted gears. A stream of black smoke came out of the rear of the car and rushed out quickly. However, even so, the carriage was still not as fast as the carriage and was left behind the four carriages.

Seeing this situation, the intersection was filled with cheers, and many coachmen were dancing and happy. In the car, Yi Zhengxing looked at the carriage in front of him with a smile. He actually knew from the beginning that this was a game without any suspense. He knew very well about the speed of the carriage. Generally, better carriages can reach more than 40 kilometers per hour at the fastest speed, and can maintain it for about ten minutes. Within a range of five kilometers, cars will definitely not be able to run away from the carriage unless the distance is longer.

The ten-minute race ended soon. In order to get a reward of 20 yuan, the four carriages did not care about their horses. They kept whipping the horses all the way, steadily throwing the car a considerable distance, and keeping the advantage until the end intersection.

After sending the reward and returning to the car, Xiao Song looked frustrated when he saw him. Yi Zhengxing smiled and said, "Don't be discouraged. The speed of the carriage is difficult to increase, but the car can do it. I think it will take a few years to throw the carriage behind. When the train was first developed, it did not outperform the carriage, but now."

The internal combustion engine car was publicly debuted for the first time and lost the competition with the horse-drawn carriage on Zhenhai Road, but it attracted the attention of countless people. Shanghai newspapers all over the world also reported it truthfully, and gave it a high evaluation and high hopes.

Diplomats in consulates in various Western countries also became very interested in this car that did not have huge noise and had far better performance than steam engine cars in all aspects, and sent telegrams to the country to report in a timely manner.

British Consulate in Shanghai, second floor, office.

Consul Mai Huatuo knocked on the door gently at the door, and heard from inside, "Please come in." He pushed the door and went in, "Your Excellency, London has called back." He said that, and handed over a telegram.

The telegram was sent by Foreign Minister Earl Glenville. The content was very simple, asking him to give a solemn warning that the Qing sphere of influence in South Africa must not cross the Lebangbo Mountains, otherwise, the possibility of a war between the two countries in South Africa will not be ruled out.

The Lebangbo Mountains are the junction between Transvaal and Mozambique, which means that the Qing Dynasty does not allow the expansion to the west and the Qing Dynasty does not allow the Qing Dynasty to interfere with Transvaal. Vitomad looked bitter and threatened with war. Last year, the Qing Dynasty dared to drive the fleet directly into the Persian Gulf, which was clear that it was not afraid of war, and it was still provoked by others.

Didn’t the Qing Dynasty know that buying a large tract of land from the Zambezi River to Maputo from Portugal would threaten the expansion of England in South Africa? Yi Zhizu proposed to build a railway to expand its strategic depth, but in fact it was openly proposing to expand westward and towards Transvaal!

The Qing Dynasty directly transported a large number of machines and tens of thousands of troops to Maputo. This attitude was not obvious enough? How could he care about Britain's warning? Maybe the Qing army had advanced into Transvaal at this time!

After sighing, he said quietly: "Does the country plan to go to war with the Qing Dynasty in South Africa?"

"The Qing Dynasty rose too fast and its ambitions became increasingly greater, and it began to threaten the empire's interests overseas." Mai Huatuo said bluntly: "The Qing Dynasty overestimates its abilities and extends its hands to South Africa. This is a rare opportunity to teach the Qing Dynasty a lesson."

Lesson? Witoma glanced at him, "If you had carefully studied the foreign wars launched by the Qing Dynasty, you would not be so optimistic."

After a pause, he continued: "The Qing Dynasty sent troops to the Southeast Asian countries to seize the Luzon and Java Islands from Spain and the Dutch. It was in 1848. In that year, a large-scale economic crisis broke out in Europe, from the British Isles to the Aegean coast, from the Scandinavia to the Apennines, strikes, uprisings, and coups emerged one after another, and countries were unable to take care of the East.

The Qing Dynasty sent troops to Central Asia, recovered lost territory from the Russians and expanded greatly. It was in 1853, when the Crimean War ended that year and Russia was defeated.

The sending troops to the Persian Gulf was when the Franco-Prussian War broke out. On the one hand, the Qing Dynasty posed a threat to India from both the east and the west, and on the other hand, it wooed Russia to pose a threat to Persia to Ottoman Turkey. It can be said that the timing of the Qing Dynasty grasped quite accurately every foreign war... "

Mai Huatuo glanced at him and said, "But now there is neither economic crisis nor unrest or war..."

"This is exactly what I worry about the most." Weituma said in a deep voice: "Yi Zhizu is not only good at seizing opportunities, but also very cautious, but also good at forbearing. Suddenly, when he sent troops to South Africa in an abnormal manner, and was not afraid of war with the empire, he must have some support.

Don’t forget that in the past thirty years, the Qing Dynasty has been ahead of Europe in terms of weapon research and development. Minnie rifled rifled rifled, metal bullets, mortars, and rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rifled rif

This is a questioning that the navy of the British Empire is not a rival to the Qing navy? Mai Huatuo looked at him in disbelief, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How many years have the Qing Dynasty developed industry? How many years have passed since thirty years, how can it be compared with my British Empire? The industrial strength of the empire is not something that the Qing Dynasty can look up to!"

"I have lived in the Qing Dynasty for thirty years, and I have watched Yuanqi rise and expand step by step." Weituoma said calmly and uneasy: "Maybe the industrial strength of the Qing Dynasty cannot compete with the empire, but in the research and development of new technologies and new products, it has surpassed the empire, including bicycles, sewing machines, rubber pneumatic tires, thermal power plants, electric lights, telephones, electric motors, electric fans, trams, and now there are internal combustion engine cars......"

After hearing this, Mai Huatuo immediately stopped saying a word. Indeed, although the Qing Dynasty started late in industry, it was not comparable to that of the UK in terms of technological innovation and the application of new technologies. When he first arrived in Shanghai, he was shocked by the level of civilization in Shanghai. In many aspects, it was difficult for London and Paris to compare. This is a fact that he could not deny.

After pondering for a moment, he said in dissatisfaction: "The invention of the new technology of the Qing Dynasty was due to the Yuanqi research institute model. The new technology and inventions of European countries are still in the personal exploration and research model, but the Qing Dynasty is a collective research model.

This cannot represent the true strength of the Qing Dynasty. Many foreign researchers in research institutes of all kinds, large and small, were hired by Yuan Qi from Europe and the United States with high salaries and generous treatment."

"As the consul of the Imperial Consulate in Shanghai, you should let go of your arrogance and arrogance." Weitoma said in a deep voice: "This city is not only creating miracles of the Qing Dynasty, but also creating miracles in the world. The emergence of new technologies and the timely application of new technologies are attracting more and more outstanding scientific and technological talents from all over the world to rush to this city!"

As he said that, he picked up the pen and wrote a telegram quickly - I insisted that as long as the other party did not threaten the empire's colonial security in South Africa, there was no need for the empire to clash with an Eastern Empire that was rising rapidly and had huge war potential for a barren and backward Transvaal.

In just two days, Witoma received a call from Foreign Minister Earl Glenville. According to Kimberley's report, the Qing people purchased a large area of ​​land in Transvaal, suspected of having discovered diamond mines and gold mines. In addition, it has been confirmed that the Qing and Russia are building railways connecting the two countries.

In order to safeguard the interests of the empire in South Africa and the East, interrupting the Qing Dynasty's industrialization process was the best choice, and it was necessary to use the conflict in South Africa to test it.

Seeing this call, Vitoma couldn't say anything for a long time. Transvaal had diamonds and gold? No wonder the Qing Dynasty was so eager to buy Portugal from the Zambezi River to Maputo as its foothold in South Africa. What shocked him even more was the Qing-Russian Railway. This railway was originally just a speculation, but now it has become a fact.

He could not imagine what kind of shock it would cause to the whole of Europe once the Qing and Russia railway, this large railway spanning Europe and Asia, would be completed and opened to traffic! There is no doubt that it would greatly weaken the maritime trade between the East and the West and seriously affect the interests of Britain and Geely in the East.

Furthermore, the opening of the Qing-Russian railway will inevitably prompt Russia to rise rapidly. Russia has always been ambitious. Once it rises, it will inevitably pose a huge threat to Europe. One Germany is enough for England to have a headache, and with the other Russia, Europe will probably never have peace.

After a while of silence, he glanced at Mai Huatuo and ordered: "Prepare the car and go to Zhennan Prince's Mansion."

After hesitating for a while, Mai Huatuo said: "Isn't it more direct to put pressure on the Qing court or the cabinet?"

After hearing this, Weituma was not funny. The other party had not been in Shanghai for a long time, but it was not short. He didn't even know the actual controller of the Qing Dynasty. After pondering for a while, he explained: "The Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty and the Prime Minister of the Cabinet are puppets. The one who really controls the real power of the Qing Dynasty is the King of Zhennan, the big shopkeeper of Yuan Qi - Yi Zhizu."

Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Bookstore.

After greetings, Yi was content and enthusiastic, and sent Weituoma and Maihuatuo into the living room. After sitting down to serve tea, Weituoma, who was familiar with the social etiquette of Qing Dynasty, chatted about the topic of internal combustion engines and cars before he realized his purpose. "On South Africa matters, the Earl of Granville, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of our country, has replied."

After a slight pause, he continued: "The Boers in South Africa are white Europeans and descendants of the Dutch. The territory of Cape Town was bought by our country from the Dutch. All the Boers are subjects of the Cape Town territory and also subjects of my Majesty Queen of Great Britain.

Strictly speaking, all the states established by the Boers in South Africa belong to my overseas territory of Great Britain and the Cape Town territory.

As for your country's expansion of strategic depth in South Africa, our country has no right to interfere or intentionally. However, the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State Republic established by the Boers are nominally owned by our country's Cape Town territory in South Africa.

In order to avoid armed conflict between the two countries in South Africa, my country hopes that your country will not cross the Lebangbo Mountains at the border between Mozambique and Transvaal."

This is very tactful. It goes around a big circle to directly incorporate the Boers and the Transvaal and Orange countries established by the Boers into the British Cape Town colony in South Africa, and clearly states that if the Qing Dynasty involved these two countries, it would have an armed conflict with Britain, which would actually threaten the outbreak of war!
Chapter completed!