African Nationhood

Chapter 268 Vision of a Million Population
  The fact that Nanhua Company secretly assisted the Neway Republic created a lot of favorability among the two Boer Republics.

Therefore, after the South China Company invited Paul Kruger to come and discuss the construction of the railway, the old white man did not hesitate at all.

When the president arrived, Shi Jintang greeted him with a smile.

Paul Kruger took the initiative to extend his right hand and shook hands with Shi Jintang.

"Thank you Sir Stone, I now believe you are a true friend of our Boers."

Shi Jintang had a smile on his face, but he was thinking mmp in his heart. I gave you the lion's share of the profits of the Rand Gold Mine before, and you didn't even mention that I was a friend.

This time I helped the small Boer country fight the British, but you said I was your friend.

"Well, we Chinese have a saying, 'The more friends you have, the easier the road will be.' Now I am working hard to make friends with the Boers, Portuguese, and Dutch.

The more friends we have, the more common interests we have, right? "

Paul Kruger nodded solemnly, "Well, you are right. We have had the idea of ​​building a railway from Mapu Port for a long time, but we have never had the funds before.

Now I have finally obtained some funds from the Rand Gold Mine, and of course I have to thank Sir Shi for this. "

Shi Jintang waved his hand, "Mr. President, please sit down. Let's sit down and talk."

After the two parties sat down, Shi Jintang took a piece of cardboard from his hand and said, "This is a main railway line planned by our company, which runs from Mapu Port to the inland city of Bulawayo.

What I want is to build a section of railway from Mapu Port as the starting point, and then connect it to the capital of your country from here. How about that? "

Paul Kruger nodded, "That's okay. I'm afraid that's not what you came to me for."

After speaking, he took out his pipe from his pocket and slowly lit it.

Shi Jintang chuckled: "As expected, I can't hide anything from you. Our company's financial budget is very tight, so I wonder if we can find some financing channels from your connections."

The main purpose of Shi Jintang was to contact the Dutch and German capitalists from the Boers.

Germany and the Netherlands have accumulated a large amount of capital after decades of development, and they also want to spread money around the world and reap profits like British capitalists.

But their mother country was not strong enough to compete with the British.

Therefore, Shi Jintang hoped that this main railway line would be led by the Boers, and then he would take the opportunity to contact capitalists on both sides to discuss cooperation.

Paul Kruger puffed out smoke and glanced at Shi Jintang, "Well, I kind of understand. You want to raise funds from the Germans and the Dutch."

Shi Jintang nodded, "You are right."

Paul Kruger pondered for a moment, "It's not that it's impossible, but aren't you afraid that the British will blame you?"

A wry smile appeared on Shi Jintang's face, "It is precisely because of this that I want to contact the Germans or the Dutch for financing through you.

After all, railways are of great importance and the potential for freight transport is very strong.

Although the scale of investment in railways is large, the profit potential is also huge.

Our company has built nearly a thousand kilometers of railways. The income generated by these railways in recent years has exceeded more than 300,000 pounds. It will take only a few years to earn back the investment.

This return on investment is much faster than the hard work of farming and raising livestock. "

Paul Kruger nodded slightly, "You are right, but the amount of investment is really not small. We have only been a country for a few years, and our finances are even less abundant.

Therefore, finding financing channels is very important to both of us, but I can't guarantee whether it will be successful or not. "

Shi Jintang smiled and nodded, "If you do this, you will definitely succeed."

What Shi Jintang told was true. The Transvaal president had very hard relations with the Dutch and German royal families.

Therefore, during the Second Boer War, the president went to various European countries to lobby and won the support of Germany, France and the Netherlands.

However, the British were too shameless and powerful. They won several countries through the py deal, leaving the Boers isolated and helpless.

……

It finally felt a little easier to see Paul Kruger off. It was already May, and 5 was almost halfway over.

The "Crown" new car of the Mercedes-Benz automobile factory shone brightly at the Paris World Expo, attracting the attention of many wealthy and aristocratic people. The style and various functions of this car can be said to be novel and revolutionary.

The new car donated by Nanhua Company to the Queen of England is equipped with many royal features.

For example, the royal emblem and the Queen's favorite colors and patterns, etc., the atmosphere of customization is very strong.

Queen Victoria was very satisfied with this car after riding it.

Prince Leopold, who returned to London in April, took the opportunity to help Shi Jintang lobby for good words in front of the Queen, and Lucas Lao Ai assisted him, so Shi Jintang's title was directly promoted to Baron by the Queen.

On May 5, the Queen’s birthday, his title promotion order will be announced.

After learning the news, Shi Jintang smiled bitterly.

……

Otto Lilienthal's flight tests went very smoothly, and he has now begun trying glider flight tests.

During the experiment, the students and assistants he led were constantly recording various data, and their work was very fruitful.

At present, they have begun to summarize some concepts and parameters of aerodynamics. After recording these things and comparing them experimentally, they will soon be able to form systematic theoretical knowledge.

Their efficiency is much higher than that of the rocket researchers in the artillery battalion. The international students who returned from Europe were of little use after being sent to them.

Shi Jintang almost wanted to curse, but he couldn't rush this matter, he had to be patient.

……

Hertz's research has not made much progress, but he has been communicating frequently with Shi Jintang and Tesla recently.

The results should be coming soon, and Shi Jintang was a little anxious while waiting.

After all, time waits for no one, and he wanted to figure out the theoretical basis of radio before Hertz became ill.

In this way, he could use Tesla's free labor to engage in wireless communications.

……

As for Tesla's high-frequency AC generator, it has now been formed, and the rest is assembly and testing.

Shi Jintang discussed it with him several times and determined that he could try to assemble a prototype in the second half of the year to test the power generation efficiency.

If successful, Tesla can proudly announce to the world that large-scale commercial use of alternating current is fully feasible.

Of course, Tesla still needs to invent a transformer, otherwise the electric voltage it sends out is too high and cannot be converted into low voltage, so it cannot be promoted and used.

……

In addition to Tesla, another piece of news that makes Shi Jintang happy is that after more than a year of efforts by the immigration department, on April 1889, 4, the total population under the rule of the Nanhua Company exceeded 27.

Futong vowed to Boss Shi that the total population would definitely exceed one million by the end of this year.

Shi Jintang appreciates Futong's guarantee and their achievements.

It's just that he was busy mediating the affairs of the Neway Republic at the time, so he didn't show an obvious attitude.

However, Shi Jintang still informed Ouyang Geng and asked him to organize people from the Immigration Bureau to arrange an internal celebration to encourage Futong and others.

At the same time, he did not forget to provide some benefits to the employees of the shipping system. Everyone was given a first-level salary increase, and some special internal coupons from the service agency were issued to show his boss Shi's attitude.

The workers who received the benefits praised Boss Shi for his heroic spirit and said that they would work hard and never let down Boss Shi's kindness and care.

These measures are relatively low-key, waiting for companies to immigrate more than one million people.

It happens to be the end of the year, and Nanhua Company can take the opportunity to hold a big celebration. It should be quite exciting to hold a big party.

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  (End of this chapter)