At least the world's largest gold reserves? Yi Zhengxing, Zhao Liewen couldn't help but look at each other. The Qing Dynasty was the silver standard, and there was only a small amount of gold. Although some of them had been stored in recent years, it was not even enough to implement the gold standard. It would be very difficult to achieve the world's largest gold reserves!

Seeing the two people, Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "It is not difficult to have the world's largest gold reserves. It is possible to achieve it by owning a super-large gold mine..."

A super big gold mine? Zhao Liewen's heart was shocked, "Transva's gold mine?"

"The reserves of the Transvaal gold mine are far beyond our imagination." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Of course, increasing gold reserves cannot be achieved by mining gold mines alone. Foreign trade is also an important means."

Foreign trade? Zhao Liewen looked at him and said with some confusion: "Big shopkeeper, our foreign trade has been almost always losses over the years, and in recent years, we have only had a slight surplus. How can we earn gold?"

"One time, another time." Yi Zhizu looked confident, "For a long time, the import and export trade of the Qing Dynasty has been in a state of trade deficit. This is because a large amount of imported steel is being built on a large scale, a large number of various machinery and equipment are imported to quickly build factories, mines are opened, and a large amount of grain is imported to cope with large-scale continuous immigration.

In fact, my country's export trade volume has always been very large. Tea, raw silk, rubber, cotton, and spices are all bulk export commodities. Sales of industrial products such as watches, bicycles, sewing machines, batteries, flashlights are also increasing year by year. Once imports are controlled, a huge trade surplus will immediately form!"

This is a day? Zhao Liewen said cautiously: "Once a huge trade surplus is formed, Western countries may be unbearable..."

"It is hard to bear and you have to hold it up!" Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice: "my country has maintained a long-term trade deficit, which is not only a need for domestic development, but also a forced effort. It has weak national strength, industrial strength and naval strength, and it is difficult to compete with the European powers, so it is not daring to form a large trade surplus.

Nowadays, our country's industrial strength and naval strength are enough to protect ourselves, and there is no need to worry about it. As Western countries still follow the trade model of free competition, they can absorb gold from Western countries through foreign trade without scrupulously!”

"I have been married for many years!" Zhao Liewen smiled and said, "Is the shopkeeper planning to establish his authority in South Africa?"

Yi Zhengxing had guessed something before and immediately tentatively said: "Has the torpedo technology achieved a breakthrough?"

"Not bad." Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "Otherwise, where would you get the confidence to provoke England, the 'mass overlord in South Africa?"

Qingdao, 426 (Torpedo) Research Institute, nearby sea surface.

A waterline galloped straight towards a target boat on the sea surface, clearly visible the tail of the torpedo. Soon, the observation ship along the way feedbacked the information, "Accurately hit the target, with a speed of 18 nautical miles per hour and a range of 450 meters."

"Okay!" Guo Zhongmu excitedly patted Huang Fusheng, director of the 426 Research Institute beside him, "When did it be tricked out, it was hidden so tightly!"

Huang Fusheng glanced at the director Guan Youling next to him and said with a smile: "It's not that he was deliberately hiding it. It's just that he has been successfully developed. It's just the guidance of Director Guan."

"Don't put gold on my face." Guan Youling smiled and said, "I just said casually and asked you to try a gyroscope. It's your credit to be able to develop it."

"Director Guan is not responsible for his achievements, so we dare not forget our roots." Huang Fusheng said with a smile. There has always been an unsurpassed bottleneck in the research of torpedoes, that is, the direction of travel of the torpedo cannot be controlled, and this problem cannot be solved. The torpedo has no practical value and cannot accurately hit the target. No matter how powerful or fast it is, it has no practical or useful value.

However, although it was not possible to solve the problem of torpedo navigation direction control, Yi Zhizu is still very interested in torpedoes. He repeatedly instructed to subdividing the research on torpedoes, controlling the course, depth, power propulsion, fuse, etc. to conduct separate research.

Therefore, once the torpedo heading control problem was solved, the research on torpedoes ushered in a considerable explosion. There are as many as three types of power propulsion, air compression, mechanical power, electric power, and an engine power.

Guan Changling asked in a voice: "What is the next test? Electric torpedo?"

"Yes." Huang Fusheng nodded. As soon as he finished speaking, a torpedo shot into the water and shot straight towards the target ship. He quickly explained: "The electric torpedo has no tail and is difficult to observe in the water, so he is moving on the water."

It is obvious that the speed of this torpedo is slower than the previous one. Soon, the information is fed back, "Accurately hit the target, with a speed of 12 nautical miles per hour and a range of 450 meters."

"The range of electric torpedoes can be longer, reaching one thousand meters." Huang Fusheng said: "The disadvantage is that they are slow, and the advantage is that they are hidden enough."

Zai Zhao nodded and said, "This torpedo is suitable for submarines."

"Yes." Huang Fusheng said: "It is indeed more suitable for submarine use."

Guo Zhongmu smiled and said, "With torpedoes, submarines can also be fully invested in actual combat. Unfortunately, the depth and range of submarines are not enough."

"There is a way to make up for it." Guan Changling smiled and said, "The transport ship that is being built with a submarine can go directly to the sea from the cabin and release the submarine at close range when the war begins."

"Ah?" Zai Zhao and Guo Zhongmu were immediately delighted, "This is really a wonderful idea! In this way, we can completely crush the British naval fleet!"

"This is the idea proposed by the shopkeeper." Guan Changling said slowly: "This is just a temporary measure. The submarine has great potential for development, and the depth of the stealth and range have great potential to be tapped. In the future, it will inevitably become an indispensable type of ship for the navy of a great power."

A temporary solution? Zai Zhao felt aroused. It seemed that this was specially prepared for a war between the British Navy in South Africa. This battle cannot be missed. Just as he was thinking, Huang Fusheng said: "The next thing is the torpedo driven by mechanical power."

Zai Zhao said in surprise: "Mechanical power?"

Huang Fusheng explained: "Similar to clockwork, we call it a flywheel-powered torpedo."

When putting on the clockwork, Guo Zhongmu couldn't help but be stunned. How big is the torpedo, which is hundreds of pounds at a time. When putting on the clockwork, isn't this a joke? "Old Huang, are you too whimsical? When putting on the clockwork, how far can the torpedo run?"

"How dare you play with weapons?" Huang Fusheng smiled and said, "Flywheel-powered torpedo uses a steam engine to drive the winch to accelerate the flywheel inside the torpedo to thousands and tens of thousands of revolutions per minute. Both the speed and range are not inferior to the first two torpedoes." As he said that, he pointed to the target ship, and then everyone found that the target ship began to move forward.

The target ship moved about a mile before stopping, and first tested an electric torpedo. Sure enough, although the electric torpedo was slightly slower and the range was not short, it still hit the target ship accurately. Huang Fusheng explained: "At present, due to the low power provided by the battery, otherwise the speed and range could be further."

As soon as the words were finished, a torpedo rushed into the sea quickly, which was obviously much faster. Everyone's attention immediately shifted. Soon, the observer on the target ship waved the flag and gave back the information, "Accurately hit the target, speed of 25 nautical miles per hour, and a range of 1,000 meters."

Guan Changling nodded in praise, "Prepare for the last two torpedoes to test live ammunition tomorrow."

The next afternoon, Yi Zhizu, who was far away in Shanghai, received a call from Guan Changling from Qingdao. When he learned that the live ammunition test was very successful, Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "I will set up mass production immediately and strive to officially equip each ship at the beginning of next year. In addition, he told Huang Fusheng that Xiaohe had just revealed his sharp corners. As a conventional weapon of naval warships, torpedoes must be improved and upgraded in an incomprehensible manner, so that the torpedo speed is faster and the range is longer, becoming a real naval weapon!"

"Yes. My subordinates understand."

After putting down the phone, Yi Zhizu suddenly felt much more relaxed. Although the naval heritage and industrial strength were not as good as those of the United Kingdom, with torpedoes and submarines, it was enough to crush the British Navy in all directions. He was determined to win the Transvaal gold mine!

South Africa, the capital of Transvaal, Pretoria, the Presidential Palace.

In the office, Little Pretorius was walking back and forth in the room in annoyance. Seeing that the situation was very good, the news suddenly leaked. The news that the Qing people discovered large-scale gold mines and had captured large areas of mining land at high prices spread wildly, and the city was full of storms.

Countless people rushed to the land purchased by the Qing people to hunt for gold, making the city of Pretoria deserted. This was not what made him most anxious. What made him most anxious was that the news had reached Kimberley, and a large number of British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Germans who had no hope of mining diamonds were also flocking to that place.

He didn't know what the reaction would be when the British Governor of Cape Town knew about this situation? The gold mine was discovered in Transvaal, and there was no controversy at all, but the Qing people occupied all the gold mines, so those Europeans were afraid that they would not give up.

He really dared not to send troops to drive him away. Once the situation is not controlled well and there are casualties, he is worried that the British Cape Town Governor used this as an excuse to provoke the war, but if he does not drive him away, the Qing army will inevitably drive him away after he arrives. If the situation is not done well, the war may break out.

At present, the Qing army has landed in Maputo and sent five thousand troops across the Lebangbo Mountains to Pretoria. It is estimated that it will arrive in another five or six days.

After thinking for a while, he made up his mind that even if he did not drive him away, he had to post a notice to declare that it was land with a master. Without permission, gold mines were not allowed to be explored and mined privately. At the same time, all the Boers must be recalled. He could ignore the Westerners, but the people of his country must be recalled, otherwise they would not be able to face the Qing people.

Langracht Farm - this farm first bought by the Qing people and the nearby ones were already filled with various simple tents. Gold diggers from all over the world heard the news and dug the ground in groups of three or five. However, neither gold nor diamond was found. Just when everyone was frustrated and discouraged, someone accidentally found golden sand hidden in the stones of the farm.

The news spread and the entire mining area was crazy. However, gold diggers soon discovered that there was indeed gold sand in the stone, but the stone had to be crushed before the sand inside was extracted. This was completely different from the previous gold digging. Moreover, the stone was not easy to crush unless there were tools to use hand. Of course, the machine was better, and the machine naturally did not have it, but there were hammers. For a time, the hammer became a hot item.

The statement of the Transvaal Mansion was posted at this time. Countless signs of all sizes were placed, but the gold diggers who only had gold in their eyes ignored them. Not to mention those Europeans, even the Boers turned a blind eye to the notice.

In this regard, Pretorius felt it was difficult to send troops to drive them away. If he really wanted to send troops to drive them away, he could not just drive them away. One way, the Boers and the Europeans were mixed together, and it was difficult to distinguish them. Another way, it would be easy to cause disgust.

Seeing that his gold mine was being mined in a random and disorderly manner, Jiang Qinghao from the Lang Lacht Farm in Yuanqi was also anxious. When he saw that Transvaal Mansion just set up a sign and posted a notice without any pain. He knew that he could not count on it, so he simply took people to the northeast to wait. It was a pity that he could not see it, so he avoided being upset.

Jiang Qinghao was also very lucky. After waiting for only one day, he met the advance team of the Marine Corps led by battalion commander Wu Yuankui. He strengthened the battalion's troops - 800 people. Hearing that the gold mine occupied was mined randomly, Transva's main palace was not restricted at all. Wu Yuankui's expression suddenly turned cold and ordered in a deep voice: "Camp on the spot, let the horses rest!"

Camping on the spot? Jiang Qinghao was suddenly a little anxious and said, "There are thousands of people who mine gold mines. If you drive them away one day earlier, you will lose less. That's our gold!"

Wu Yuankui glanced at him and smiled and said, "What are you anxious about? Let them mine, and let them hand over all the gold tomorrow!"

So powerful? Jiang Qinghao was a little skeptical. It would be nice to drive away thousands of gold diggers from a battalion, and could they hand over the gold? He hesitated and said, "Will the large army arrive tomorrow?"

"The big force arrives the day after tomorrow."

The genius arrived after a while? Jiang Qinghao quickly reminded: "Many of those gold diggers have guns in their hands."

"Don't worry." Wu Yuankui said indifferently: "Not to mention thousands of people, tens of thousands of people will hand over the gold. How can Yuanqi's gold be so easy to get?"

The next morning, after breakfast, Wu Yuankui sent his troops out to surround the entire mining area, and did not drive it away, and he surrounded it without fighting. The mining area was allowed to enter or exit, and it was okay to leave, and he could hand over all the gold on his body.

The mine was surrounded by soldiers with blue uniforms, yellow face, yellow skin, dark eyes, live ammunition, and the news soon spread in the mine. All the gold miners reacted at this time and remembered the notices posted two days ago. They all knew that the owner of the gold mine was here.
Chapter completed!