African Nationhood

Chapter 217 "Rand Basin Agreement"

It was a normal reaction for President Kruger to be so frightened and angry that he almost fainted. With the British and the South China Company being strong, the discovery of a huge gold mine at Rand Farm would be a disaster for the Boers.

But as a Boer president, he could not abandon this huge benefit. After all, this gold mine was discovered on Boer land, and the Boers were too poor and needed additional help.

The fact that the South China Company quietly captured two indigenous kingdoms had a huge shock to the Transvaal Republic.

The Kingdom of Matabeleland has a powerful force and people, but it has no ability to backhand in front of the Chinese army, which surprised the Boers even more.

Paul Kruger has long recognized the faces of his two neighbors. Under the current situation, they are just trying to maintain the illusion of peace.

But they couldn't get rid of Nanhua Company. After all, the Chinese were easier to get along with than the British.

It's okay to get along, but deep down the Boers don't trust either party. They are most insecure now.

The top leaders of the Transvaal Republic are making mobilization orders at home, trying to persuade their compatriots to pay attention to international dangers and not to easily trust the British and Chinese.

The top leaders of the Transvaal Republic have reached an agreement to deploy corps on the southern and northern borders at the same time to guard against enemy surprise attacks from the north and south.

……

Governor Robinson came back in a hurry and saw Shi Jintang and Paul Krueger standing together.
  He became even more anxious, fearing that the South China Company and the Boers would reach an agreement to isolate the British from the huge gold mines.

When he came to the two of them, Governor Robinson's half-bald forehead was covered with oil and sweat. "General Manager Shi, can we talk to you?"

Shi Jintang chuckled, "Governor, you came just in time. I just told President Kruger the news about the huge gold mine. This good news almost made him faint with excitement.

President Kruger, are you okay? "

Paul Kruger had calmed down at this moment, and he waved his hand, "It's okay, I'm fine. Since General Manager Shi said it was a huge gold mine, you should have obtained the specific information about this gold mine. "

Shi Jintang nodded and turned to the British man again.

"Governor Robinson, you are not busy now. Weren't you in a hurry to go back just now?"

Robinson smiled sarcastically and said, "Don't interrupt. Let's get down to business."

Shi Jintang shrugged, this is not the place to talk. How about we make an appointment and talk about it later? You see, I haven't even changed into my wedding clothes yet.

When they heard the words, they both looked at Shi Jintang. Governor Robinson was the one who responded quickly.

He smiled and said: "General Manager Shi, go change your clothes first. We'll wait here. When you're done changing, we'll sit down and talk."

Governor Robinson should be friendly to him. After all, the gold mine is on the land of the Boers, and the Rand Farm belongs to the South China Company. The British have nothing. He must rely on Shi Jintang to get involved in the gold mine. Benefit.

President Kruger also saw the current situation clearly and acquiesced in letting the British come in and get involved.

Otherwise, the British would simply turn into bandits and rob them. The diamond mine in Kimberley is a clear example.

In addition, the British also control the purchasing power of gold, and 4.25 pounds per ounce is the price customized by the British.

Most of the gold produced in the Nawakabu Gold Mine, the Second Gold Mine and the gold mines in the Kingdom of Matabeleland in Southwest Africa was taken away by the British.

But Nanhua Company's secret vault also contains more than 110 million ounces of gold and more than 2 carats of diamonds.

It wasn't that Shi Jintang wanted to keep gold and diamonds privately, but that the Matabeleland Kingdom had too much loot.

He didn't dare to take out so much at once, so he could only go out little by little.

Now that the Rand Gold Mine has been opened, he can finally sell off part of his gold inventory.

"Okay, please wait a moment, both of you, I'll be right back."

……

After speaking, Shi Jintang left the lakeside and asked Governor Robinson and President Kruger to talk first.

The reason why Shi Jintang left with peace of mind was because he was sure that the Boers and the British could not reach an agreement.

In this matter, the Nanhua Company was naturally on the stronger side, because neither the Boers nor the British were unreasonable.

Moreover, the two of them did not trust each other, after all, they had been hostile before.

The British had previously analyzed that the reason why the Boers were unreasonable was because when the South China Company signed the "New Bloemfontein Agreement" with the Transvaal Republic, there was no clause that mentioned the ownership of the minerals under the farm.

Moreover, the Transvaal Republic has not promulgated a decree that all minerals within the territory should be owned by the state.

Under the New Bloemfontein Agreement, the Transvaal Republic only had sovereignty over the Land Farm lands.

If the South China Company opens a gold mine at Rand Farm, the Transvaal Republic can only charge start-up fees, business taxes and corporate income tax just like South China Company did with the Nawakabu gold mine.

It is easy to falsify these tax rates, and you will never make more money than joint venture mining.

Therefore, the room for negotiation here lies in tax rates and types of taxes, gold mine start-up fees, and labor issues.

The prerequisite for Shi Jintang's negotiation is to monopolize the employment issue in this gold mining area, otherwise there will be no need to negotiate.

……

When Shi Jintang changed his clothes and appeared in front of the two dignitaries again, Governor Robinson was the first to ask Shi Jintang with a smile.

"General Manager Shi, where should we go to talk?"

"Well, how about going to our conference center in Anhai Town?"

"Okay, of course. Let's go, please lead the way!" The group of people took a carriage and arrived at the Anhai Town Conference Center, which was more than ten minutes away.

After entering the conference room, Shi Jintang sat at the main seat, while Governor Robinson and President Kruger sat opposite each other.

Their followers also followed their leader and sat aside.

The civil servant of Nanhua Company quickly served tea and voluntarily left the conference room.

……

Shi Jintang held a document and patted his palms lightly.

"Here are the evaluation results of the gold mine. Before you two watch, I have something to say. You two promised me to show it to you."

Governor Robinson nodded, "Please speak."

"Rand Fortress City is the property of our Nanhua Company and has been operating for many years.

After establishing a joint venture, these properties must be valued and used to offset part of our investment. "

After hearing this, the two dignitaries immediately nodded in agreement, "Okay, this is easy to say."

Now that the two of them had finished speaking, Shi Jintang placed the documents in his hands on the conference table, and Governor Robinson took the lead in grabbing the information.

After reading it, the brows on his face stretched wide.

When President Paul Kruger saw that the grade of gold ore actually reached a high level of 11 grams, he couldn't help but take a breath.
  This gold mine is indeed a rich mine!

Looking at the estimated total number of gold ores, there are millions of tons.

If these gold ores are of such high grade, then the amount of gold this gold mine can produce is astronomical.

What a fortune that would be!

Shi Jintang took note of the expressions of the two men. What he did not tell them was that Nanhua Company had already taken the lead in searching the discovered mine.

Preliminary estimates include 30,000 to 40,000 ounces of gold sand and gold nuggets.

……

"Okay, let me lay out my conditions first. All labor issues in the gold mine will be left to our Nanhua Company. Workers from other ethnic groups are not allowed to be brought in from outside. Do you two have any questions?"

This condition of Shi Jintang is nothing. The two big guys will naturally not offend Boss Shi on such an issue.

"Okay, I agree."

"That's okay with me, too."

"Now that you two have agreed to my conditions, I only have one condition left. My Nanhua Company must own a share of the gold mine, accounting for no less than one-quarter."

After Shi Jintang finished speaking, the two bosses were a little surprised. Why was he so restrained?

In their understanding, Nanhua Company must occupy a dominant position this time.

The two of them had already made up their mind to refute Nanhua Company's reasons for being dominant, but they did not expect Shi Jintang's requirements to be so low.

Now that the South China Company has withdrawn from the competition for dominance, the British and the Boers cannot live in harmony.

After several hours of debate, the British and Boers came to an agreement and the three parties signed an agreement known as the Rand Basin Agreement.

The agreement stipulated that the three parties, the Cape Colony Government of the Republic of Transvaal and the South China Company, would jointly develop the gold mine under the Rand Farm, and the three parties would establish a joint-stock company.

The Transvaal Republic held 40% of the shares, the Cape Colony Government held 35%, and the South China Company held 25%.

The three parties established the "Rand Basin Central Mining Company" with a tentative total share capital of 100 million pounds, and various facilities on the Rand Fortress City and Rand Farm compensated a total investment of 20 pounds.

The three parties agreed that if gold mines are discovered again in the Rand Basin in the future, they will continue to invest in this proportion and continue to explore new gold mines.

……

Nanhua Company first dispatched 3000 indentured laborers to carry out preliminary excavation work of the gold mine.

The entry fee for each indentured laborer was 15 pounds, and each indentured laborer was promised a salary of 6 pounds per year. The wages were settled with the Labor Department of Nanhua Company.

Indentured labor is managed by the mining company, and the Nanhua Company Labor Department is only responsible for providing indentured labor.

At the end of the meeting, Shi Jintang proposed that since gold mines were being excavated under the Rand Farm, the Transvaal Republic must compensate itself for another piece of land.

President Kruger looked at Shi Jintang, "Where do you plan to exchange this land?"

"Is it not difficult to continue farming in another place in the Rand Basin?"

President Kruger agreed without much thought, so Shi Jintang circled a large piece of land in the area of ​​what would become the West Rand Gold Mine and continued to operate the Rand Farm.

The entire Rand Basin is a gold mining belt, and if it is detected in the future, he can continue to participate in the operation.

By slowly replacing them, you can always get to the point where both the British and the Boers can't help but take action.

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  (End of this chapter)