South Africa, Cape Town, Simmonstown.

Simonstown is close to Falls Bay and crosses the Cape of Good Hope. It has been an important military base since the Dutch occupied it. In 1741, the Dutch built a naval base here. After the British seized Cape Town from the Dutch in 1795, it continued to expand. It has now become one of the largest military ports in England overseas, Simon Military Port.

Accompanied by Foreign Minister Granville and his party, Yi Zhengxing visited the largest military port in England in South Africa with great interest. Granville walked as a host and enthusiastically explained the history of Simon's military port to Yi Zhengxing.

The negotiations between the two sides were at a deadlock at the beginning. Although Yi Zhengxing made some concessions, Granville still couldn't accept it. After learning about Yi Zhengxing's identity and learning that he had grown up in London since childhood, he simply suspended the negotiations and invited the other party to visit Simon Military Port.

For a whole day, Granville never mentioned the matters involved in the negotiations, but talked about London, the Qing Dynasty students, the expo, etc. The next day, he invited Yi Zhengxing to visit Table Mountain to enjoy the scenery, the third day went to Cape Hope, and the fourth day went to see the penguins, as if he was here for vacation, and completely forgot about the negotiations between the two countries.

The other party was not in a hurry, and Yi Zhengxing was not in a hurry. He was leisurely traveling around every day, and he kept silent about topics related to negotiations. Time flew for a week, and Granville couldn't hold back after all. After all, this negotiation should not be delayed for too long, and he could not stay in Cape Town for a long time.

On that day, in the official cabin on the ship heading to Seal Island, Granville deliberately sent away the people around him, and looked at Yi Zhengxing and said slowly: "The French-Prussian War was defeated by Germany, claiming 5 billion francs of war compensation, and seizing the Alsace-Lorraine region, which is rich in coal and iron resources.

This is the highest war reparation in history, and Germany has therefore formed an indelible hatred with France. In my opinion, Germany's move is extremely unwise. If the target of the claim is Ottoman Turkey, Mexico, Persia and other countries that have no development potential and will never pose a threat, it doesn't matter how high the claim amount is.

But it is undoubtedly extremely unwise for a country like France that is a world-wide military power and has the potential for infinite war, because Germany cannot destroy France. Once France becomes strong, it will inevitably take revenge. This is equivalent to establishing a strong enemy of life and death. In the long run, it will not be worth the loss."

Yi Zhengxing naturally understood the meaning of this sentence. The other party was reminding him that there was no need for the Qing Dynasty to establish a long-term enemy for himself for temporary gains like Germany. The two of them had been together well during this period. Since the other party couldn't help but start to stumble indirectly, he didn't go around in circles and said straight: "What is your bottom line?"

"My country needs to end this war with a decent end." Granville said without hesitation. During this period, he not only accompanied Yi Zhengxing to travel around, but also had long talks with the Governor of Cape Town and the Expeditionary Force's naval and army generals to understand the situation. He concluded that the Qing Dynasty would not embarrass them too much, at least not like France.

After pondering for a moment, Yi Zhengxing said: "I am frank, if it weren't for the sake of giving your country a little decent, the expeditionary force led by General Pinel would not have the chance to return to Cape Town safely."

After a pause, he continued: "As the two empires of the East and the West, we have no fundamental conflict of interest. On the contrary, our two countries still have a common interest - East-West trade. Under any circumstances, the advantages of East-West trade and sea transportation are irreplaceable.

I believe that this relationship will continue to be stable and stable for a long time and will continue to develop.

From the perspective of commerce and trade, our two countries can be said to be in a relationship of prosperity and loss. Therefore, we will carefully consider maintaining the decency that your country should have.

However, after all, this war was initiated by your country, and we must also give an explanation to the country. The example of the Franco-Prussian War is ahead, and the country generally has high expectations for this negotiation."

After hearing what he said, Granville couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed that the previous judgment was correct. The Qing Dynasty was indeed not as reasonable as Germany. Since it was this attitude, the negotiations would not be as difficult as before.

Moreover, in these words, the other party could say that the Qing Dynasty would not affect the trade between Qing and British and the interests of Britain in the Qing Dynasty because of the Eurasian Railway.

After pondering for a moment, he simply pointed out that "Although the total trade volume of East and West continues to grow, the growth rate is slow. Once the large railway built by your country that runs through Eurasia is completed and opened to traffic, it will inevitably have a significant impact on maritime trade."

Yi Zhengxing said without any haste: "The construction of the Eurasian Railway is mainly aimed at landlocked countries in Eastern Europe and Central Europe, and its impact on the maritime trade between China can be said to be minimal. Moreover, the main purpose of this railway is to consolidate the northwest of our country, and its military significance is greater than economic significance."

The so-called military significance is greater than economic significance, which is undoubtedly a warning to Britain not to try to interfere. Granville naturally understood this meaning at first glance. In fact, in the current situation, even if England wants to interfere, they are powerless. If they win the battle in South Africa, there is still a possibility of interference.

After glanced at him, Yi Zhengxing continued: "In addition, the total trade volume of East and West has not grown slowly over the years, but the Pacific trade volume has been increasing, dispersing the total trade volume of East and West."

After hearing this, Granville didn't say anything for a long time. He knew that the other party was talking about the fact that America was moving westward and actively built railways connecting the east and west coasts, not only because of gold found in the west, but also because of the need for Pacific trade. The Pacific trade between the Qing and the United States has grown very rapidly in recent years.

He couldn't help but be worried that the Qing Dynasty not only developed rapidly but was good at building trade networks. Both Pacific trade and Eurasian land trade have extremely broad prospects. If this continues for a few years, the world economic center may move eastward, and the Qing Dynasty will replace England and become the new world economic center!

Soon, he pulled his thoughts back and said, "What kind of explanation does your country need?"

Yi Zhengxing smiled and said, "Of course, it was a compensation for compensation and cede land..."

Granville laughed, “Not the Persian Gulf?”

"Since you know, why should you ask me knowingly?" Yi Zhengxing said without hesitation: "What is your attitude towards the Persian Gulf?"

Granville bluntly said: "The Persian Gulf is about the security of the Middle East. To be precise, the Persian Gulf is about the Mediterranean, Europe, and the safety of the Suez Canal. We will not give up."

Yi Zhengxing laughed and said, "Your Excellency seems to have forgotten that the shares of the Suez Canal were transferred to your country. Not to mention the Persian Empire, at least the Ottoman Turkish Empire, our country is not interested in it. Our country has no intention to threaten Europe, or it has no intention to expand its sphere of influence to the Mediterranean."

After hearing this, Granville didn't say anything for a long time. The Qing Dynasty expanded its territory to the Persian Gulf and actively built the Northwest Railway. Its impact on the Persian Empire had long exceeded that of England and Russia. This is an undeniable fact. If the Qing Dynasty really had no ambitions for Ottoman Turkey and had no ambitions for the Mediterranean, it seemed that there was no need to care too much. After all, the shares in the Suez Canal were indeed sold to England by the Qing Dynasty.
Chapter completed!